Mine
by The Midnight Fox
Summary: What if Uncas and Alice had met in present day under normal circumstances? An AU Alice and Uncas story set in modern day Montana. Rated M for language and references to alcohol consumption to start, and later for sexual content. review are always welcome .
1. Chapter 1

**Mine**

A pounding on the door brought Uncas out of sleep with an irritated groan. He muttered with annoyance as he blindly reached for the alarm clock and pulled it over to his face, trying in vain to see what time it was. The numbers glowed 6:45 a.m. in the dim, curtained room and Uncas rolled to other side, pulling the pillow over his head as he went. The clock hit the rug with a soft thump.

"I know you're in there Uncas, so open the door." his uncle's muffled voice carried through the door and down the hall. He even heard it through the thickness of his pillow. With a scowl, Uncas pulled the pillow off his face and swung his legs over the side of the bed. If Magua was here this early it could only mean one thing and that was that Nate had been arrested again. He ran his hands back through his long black hair in aggravation. What had his _Ass_ of a brother done now?

"Uncas! Get up, NOW!" Magua's voice shouted.

"Give me a minute!" he shouted back as he fumbled around for his jeans. He pulled them up his long legs and stumbled sleepily into the hallway of his father's cabin. He had been up late with brushfire training the night before and did _not_ appreciate being pulled out of much needed sleep for another round of Nate's bullshit. Magua pounded on the front door again as Uncas was fiddling with the lock.

"Would you hold on for one god damned second?" he yelled through the door as he pulled back the chain. Uncas opened the door and squinted out into the sunlight of the bright Montanta morning. Magua stood at his father's doorway with folded arms and a rather grim expression. Uncas rubbed his eyes blearily before throwing a hand in the air.

"What did he do _this_ time?" he queried. "And how much is it gonna cost me?"

Nate was about a year and a half older than Uncas and had been getting in trouble on a semi-regular basis since Chingachgook died of stomach cancer a year ago. Their father's death had hit Nate hard and he sought comfort in booze and bar fights. Uncas seemed to be forever bailing him out of jail or bargaining with Magua for his brother to be able to remain on the reservation. His credit was taking a major hit as well with all the bail money being put on it. Uncas was struggling just to keep them fed, let alone keep Nate out of trouble.

"Drunk and disorderly conduct," Magua answered evenly "threw him in the drunk tank for the night. You need to come get him."

Uncas sighed with a mix of relief and perpetual aggravation. At least _this_ stint wasn't going to put him out another couple grand but he still had to drag his carcass across the reservation in the wee hours of the morning to retrieve his drunken brother. Wasn't his day just turning out lovely?

"Let me get my keys." Uncas grumbled. Magua shook his head and Uncas shot him a questioning look.

"Just get dressed, I'll drive you. We need to have a _conversation_ anyway." his uncle intoned, putting emphasis on the word 'conversation.'

Uncas sighed again but nodded and shut the door as he went to find a shirt and brush his teeth. He knew what his uncle wanted to talk about and it wasn't a conversation that Uncas wanted to have with him. Magua wanted to have Nate removed from the reservation altogether. He hadn't been particularly happy when Chingachgook and Uncas late mother had adopted the boy.

Nate had been abandoned on the reservation when he was a year and a half old. Chingachgook had felt so bad for him that he had lobbied to adopt him and Nate had been with them ever since; always leaning toward aggression, even as a teen, Nate had always been difficult to control. When their father was alive it had been easier, Chingachgook could get through to him but …once their father got sick…well Nate just regressed.

Now Uncas was left to pick up the pieces and he was starting to bend under the pressure. He splashed water on his face and pulled some of his hair back with a leather strip before taking the time to shave. If Magua wanted to have a conversation about Nate then he could damn well wait until Uncas was awake enough to put up with it.

Once he was sufficiently clean, he picked up his dad's old jacket and walked out the front door to meet his father's brother. Magua waited patiently by his car as Uncas locked the door and plodded down the wooden steps with his hands shoved sullenly in his pockets. Magua went around to the driver's side of the old Chevy truck he had driven for over a decade. Uncas fell into the passenger side with a huff f air and waited for his uncle to begin speaking.

"How old are you this year, son?" Magua asked as they pulled away from the cabin.

"You know how old I am, _Aahsa_." Uncas muttered, not in the mood for games.

"Humor me?" Magua requested calmly. Uncas heaved another sigh and turned his head to stare out over the expanse of land that was owned and maintained by the Blackfoot nation.

"Twenty four come October." he answered quietly. He felt rather than saw Magua nod from his place behind the wheel.

"And how old is Nate?" Magua followed. "Twenty five…almost twenty six years old. Tell me Ade, how deep in debt are you because of him?"

When Magua used his nephew's 'white' name, Uncas knew he meant business. Everyone on the reservation ended up with two names eventually. The first was the one you were born with; in Uncas case it was Adrian. The second was the one that you _earned_ by doing something that proved your place in the nation. Uncas had earned his when he was 18, after pulling a couple little girls from a house that was burning due to the yearly brushfires. No one on the reservation called him Adrian anymore though the name still appeared on his credit cards and bills. Adrian Blackstone of the Blackfoot Nation, legally that was his name but to anyone that mattered he was just Uncas. His family had Mohican blood in their cocktail so they all had Mohican names.

"Someone has to look out for him, _Aahsa_." Uncas argued, swinging his head back to stare at his uncle's harsh profile.

"And that person has to be _you_?" Magua countered. "When is enough going to be enough?"

"He's my _brother_!" Uncas exclaimed, annoyed.

"Not by blood." Magua reminded him crisply and Uncas closed his mouth, looking away. He so did not want to get into this same battle with his uncle again.

Magua was not the biggest fan of the white populace, feeling they had done the Native Americans few favors over the past one hundred years or so. He wasn't outright rude to anyone but he was definitely a separatist at heart. He would happily leave the white man to his world and never speak to one again if he could help it. Being the main sheriff on the reservation meant that would never happen.

"You're never going to see him as anything but an outsider, are you?" Uncas said after a long moment of tense silence.

"And you're never going to let him clean up his own mess, so where does that leave us?" Magua fired back.

"Did you pick Paul up for drunk and disorderly conduct too?" Uncas threw in grumpily.

Paul was Magua's oldest boy and Nate's favorite cousin, he was also the reason Nate got into as much trouble as he did. A glance at his uncles face and the tightness around his mouth indicated that Paul was involved at the very least if not sitting next to Nate in a holding cell.

Magua let the subject drop until they pulled up to the watch house where the few holding cells were. Uncas climbed out of the truck and would have walked in without another word if his uncle hadn't grabbed him by the upper arm to stop him.

"Look, Uncas," he said kindly "I know it seems like I don't care for Nate and it's no secret that I would be happy to have him out of my hair but I'm trying to look out for _you_. You shouldn't have to drain what little money you have to clean up his mess."

"He's still grieving, _Aahsa._" Uncas said, trying to defend his brother. Magua released his nephew's arm and slumped his shoulders a bit as he moved around the younger man to unlock the door to the watch house.

"Aren't we all?" he muttered as he pushed the door in.

Chingachgook and Magua had been close their whole life, only ever disagreeing when it came to Chingachgook adopting Nate. One his death bed he had made Magua promise to look after his boys and so far their uncle was trying to live up to that promise.

Uncas followed his uncle inside and saw Nate just pushing himself into a sitting position on the jail bench, holding his head as though it ached horribly. There was no sign of Paul in the cell with him which meant that Magua had probably deposited his son at home before driving over to wake Uncas up. Nate squinted open an eye to peer at his uncle and brother before gave a lopsided grin to Uncas.

"How much am I going to tank you this time?" He asked, voice a little hoarse.

"Thankfully not at all, you just got dragged in here for causing a ruckus. " Uncas explained before folding his arms over his chest and glaring at the older man. "You going to make it into work today?"

Nate worked in sanitation when he was sober but he had been missing a lot of work lately. What little he did bring in got put toward paying bills but that was only when he didn't drink or gamble it away first. Looking at him now, Uncas thought he looked like he'd been rode hard and put away wet.

"I dunno," Nate mumbled, pinching the bridge of his nose and wincing. "My head hurts"

"How many times are we going to do this, brother?" Uncas asked tiredly. Nate shot him a harassed look. Finally Uncas rolled his eyes and turned back to Magua.

"Can he leave now?" He asked. Magua crossed his own arms this time and leaned back against the desk in the corner.

"I suppose, if you think you can keep him out of trouble for the rest of the day."

"Shouldn't be too hard, he looks like he's too hung over to do much more damage." Uncas answered. Magua frowned but nodded before pulling a release form from his desk and having his nephew sign it. Once that was done he opened the holding pen and let Nate out. He followed Uncas out into the bright sunlight and nearly hissed at it like a vampire. Uncas couldn't help but laugh.

"What's wrong, Dracula? Light hurt?" he teased as Nate gave him the finger.

After a few moments of laughter on Uncas part and Nate complaining about the brightness, Nate began to look around for the car.

"How'd you get here?" he asked with narrowed eyes.

"_Ashsa_ drove, looks like we're walking home." Uncas commented and began making his way down the path. Nathanial hurried after him quickly.

"What's the rush, why don't we grab some coffee at _Phillip's_ first?" his brother recommended.

As much as Uncas didn't want to spend the money to go to the diner, he had to admit that a ready cup of coffee actually sounded good. The diner wasn't very far of a walk, maybe the exercise would further sober Nate up and he would be able to make it into work after all. Plus it was Uncas day off, it's not like he had anything better to do.

"Alright," he agreed and shot his brother a mock 'put out' look that he couldn't maintain "but you're buying."

Author's note:

(Welcome to the first chapter of 'Mine'. I mentioned at the end of 'Rabbit' that I had another story clamoring for my attention and here it is. I'm probably going to alternate POV's for a good portion of this fic, depending on what I need to get across. Much like 'Rabbit' and 'Coming Back to You', this will be an at home story. No big adventure or battles, just a love story with its usual drama.

This story came into my head when I was listening to 'Little talks' by Of Monsters and Men and it became the theme song for the whole story. The characters just started talking and wouldn't shut up so you guys get this story until they stop talking to me ^.^

I decided to give Magua a not so bad role in this story; he's a hard ass but not a terrible person. He kept coming through in my head as the brother of Chingachgook and I just decided to go with it. The part of villain will go to someone else that we'll meet later.

Anyway, hope you all end up liking this story as I update it. It's rated Mature for language initially but there will be sexual content later.)


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I own nothing, I make no money, I'm writing this for my own self-indulgence so please don't sue me.**

Alice had just finished pulling on her work shirt when she heard the door to their tiny apartment open and close.

"Papa?" she called and received an answering grunt in return. Alice frowned as she ran the brush through her white/blonde hair and pulled it into a loose ponytail that fell over one shoulder. If her father was just getting in now, and was mostly unresponsive, it meant he was drunk. She had checked his local haunts until weariness made her return home and she hadn't gotten near the amount of sleep she wanted.

"Papa?" Alice called again as she reached for her purse and checked to make sure her inhaler was in it. She took the inhaler out and shook it to see how much medicine was left inside, frowning again when she realized it wasn't much. She didn't have time to run to the local pharmacy for a new one right now, it would make her late for her shift at _Phillips_. She needed to be at the dance studio at four thirty, if luck was with her she could get a refill before heading to rehearsal.

A thump outside her door made her jump and, alarmed, she rushed to her bedroom door to make sure her father hadn't hurt himself. She went to push her door open and it caught as it banged into something. She grunted and pushed harder, the door caught on her Edmund Munro's backside as he had collapsed right outside it.

"Papa, wake up!" she said loudly, pushing the door against him again. He gave a grunt but didn't move. 'Dammit!" Alice cursed and pushed away from the door, walking back to her purse to retrieve her door keys. Then with an annoyed groan, she pushed up her window and climbed out onto the fire escape. She raced down the various ladders and dropped over the side of the final grate, holding on and gauging the distance to the ground before releasing the rusty basket and letting herself fall.

It was a minor drop and she landed gracefully, breathing out a puff of air from the impromptu run. If she wasn't awake before, she certainly was now. Heaving a sigh she walked around the side of the apartment building and entered, climbing the stairs back to their apartment. She felt a minor wheeze beginning in her chest as her airways complained. She tried to breathe slowly and calmly, trying her best to stave off the asthma attack before it began.

The attacks had been occurring with more frequency since her sister ran off about a month ago. Increased stress seemed to bring on the wheezing she was feeling now and if she didn't calm herself it could become a full blown attack very quickly. It used to be that only cigarette smoke set her of on a bad attack and that was easily enough avoided but, when Cora abandoned her with their alcoholic father, it had just gotten worse.

'She wanted you to come with her,' Alice's own voice chastised her 'You can't blame _her_ because _you_ chose to stay behind.'

It was true enough. Cora _had_ wanted Alice to come with her when she ran off with Duncan. Cora hadn't been able to take their fathers violent whiskey induced rages any longer. Duncan had also been ready to escape his mentally ill, abusive mother, so when he had asked her sister to go with him, she had agreed. Alice couldn't let herself go with them. Someone had to look after their father, or at least that was what she told herself.

She inserted the key into the front door and pushed it in. Thankfully her father had been too drunk to pull the chain across or she might have been trapped outside until he woke up. She strode across the hallway to where he lay sprawled with his back against her bedroom door and reached down to give him a firm shake.

'C'mon, papa." Alice said as she tugged on his arm, trying to make him sit up. If she could get him to his chair, she knew he would sleep it off until tonight. Unfortunately he would probably just walk to the nearest bar and start the process over.

"waaah, cora?" Edmund moaned, looking around groggily as she pulled him into a sitting position.

"No, Papa, its Alice," she corrected quietly. "C'mon, up you go."

He stumbled unevenly to his feet and she pulled one of his arms around her shoulders as she guided him to his armchair. He reeked of sweat and booze. Edmund Munro used to be a very well respected colonel in the British army, back when Cora was a girl and Alice a baby. An injury had gotten him discharged and when Alice was sixteen they had moved from Surrey to the States so he could retire. Retirement meant drinking himself into stupidity and taking out all his rage and ire on his daughters.

"Ali…" he mumbled as she helped him lower himself into his chair "Ali where's yer sister?"

Her father's Scottish accent always got thicker when he'd been drinking, sometimes to the point that she couldn't understand him. She looked down at him, still wheezing slightly as he squinted at her in confusion.

"She left, Papa, remember?" Alice reminded him gently. "Last month she and Duncan ran away together."

"No she didn't." he said in amusement, chuckling as though Alice were teasing him. "Cora didnae run away, girl…she's..she's..?" He couldn't seem to remember where his oldest was.

"Yes, she did, Papa." Alice told him quietly, making him look at her with her hands on his face. "It's just you and me now."

She should have known better than to try and reason with him in the state he was in. Her mistake was misinterpreting his amusement for safety. God knew she'd been struck enough over the years to know the warning signs. She made the mistake of getting too close, her father's large hands came up to grab her wrists where they rested on his face in an iron like grip. Alice grimaced as he applied pressure.

"Its yer fault she left me!" he hissed angrily, spittle flying into her face. Alice cried out in pain as the skin of her wrists was pinched and twisted in his rough hands. "Its yer fault!" He wasn't talking about Cora anymore; he was talking about Alice's dead mother. She had died giving birth to Alice and was the another reason he had turned to the bottle for comfort.

"Papa, you're hurting me!" Alice gasped as he began to squeeze that much tighter.

"Yer fault!" he continued harshly, shaking her. "Yer fault she's gone!"

"Papa, please!" she cried and something in her voice broke through his whisky fueled anger. His eyes suddenly widened and he released her as quickly as he had grabbed her. Alice flew back and away from him, wheezing again while holding her stinging wrists to her chest. There were painful tears in her eyes that threatened to fall as she tried to draw breath.

"Ali?" her father said with dawning recognition as he watched his youngest cringe against the kitchen counter, holding her wrists and wheezing. "Are you having an attack, darlin'?"

The wheezing became a rattle in her chest and she stumbled into the kitchen, throwing open a drawer to dig for the inhaler that Cora always used to keep in there for her. Cora had kept them all over the apartment when she was still there so that Alice would always have one handy. Now they didn't have the extra income for so many but Alice hoped an old one still remained.

Her fingers closed around a plastic applicator and she shook it to test how much was inside before pushing the end into her mouth. She pushed down the plunger as the medicine shot down her throat, a somewhat bitter taste on her tongue. She took one slightly easier breath before hitting the plunger again. Another bare coating of medicine lubricated her air-ways. She leaned against the counter, head thrown back, trying to calm her nerves so that awful rattle would recede. She tossed the empty inhaler aside, gasping.

"OK now, girl?" He father asked from his place in the chair, Alice was certain he didn't comprehend that he had hurt her. It was the stress and fear of violence that brought on the attacks; that usually brought on the attacks, but he would not realize that _he_ himself caused the stress. If this kept happening she would have to go to the hospital for a breathing treatment and those cost money they didn't have.

"Fine papa," she answered when her voice started to work again. She felt the 'lack of oxygen' tears sliding down her cheeks. "I'm fine."

They were silent as Alice relearned how to breathe and finally, slowly, her chest loosened up. When she straightened and smoothed down her work skirt she felt a little dizzy. Edmund regarded her quietly from his chair.

"You working today, lass?" Her father asked, finally lucid. Alice nodded mutely, glancing down at her wrists where red finger shaped bruises were already coloring her skin. Great, the dance company was going to love that. No one wanted to watch a ballerina with bruises on her wrist.

"What about rehearsal?" he followed. Alice swallowed her pained tears and wiped her face before taking a deep breath.

"It's this afternoon," she answered shakily. "I'll probably be home late."

Edmund nodded and leaned back in his chair, shutting his eyes wearily.

"Well, don't overdo it," he responded sleepily. "You know what stress does to your asthma."

"Yeah," she muttered as she walked back down the hall to retrieve her purse. "Yeah, we both know what it does." She angrily hauled up her coat and threw it around her shoulders before stomping back into the hallway. Her father was already snoring in his chair as she passed. She slammed the door as she left, stomping down each stair until her resentment began to fade.

_ You chose this, you chose to stay_, Alice told herself over and over. _Don't resent Cora for escaping_. The problem was that she did resent it in a way, she resented that her sister was stronger than her, that she managed to breakout of the cycle of alcohol and abuse. Alice just couldn't leave him like that. She couldn't stand the thought that he would end up like a bum in the street or die from choking on his own vomit.

She climbed onto the bus at the corner and slumped into an empty seat at the back, her resentment and anger fading into weariness. She was tired and, if the asthma attacks weren't a sign of that, then nothing was. She was trying to make enough money to keep them in the apartment, enough money to keep paying for her asthma medicine, and then there was food…at the end of the month there was barely enough for them to eat. Her fathers medical discharge money was reserved for paying bills and she had recently caught him tapping into it for booze.

Alice leaned forward and rubbed her forehead with two fingers. If she could just make it to the spring performance she would have enough money saved up to float them for a while, if she didn't end up having to get a damn breathing treatment first.

The bus pulled up to the stop a little ways down from the diner. _Phillips_ was located in the immigrant part of town, made up of a variety of different people_. Phillips_ was owned and operated by John Cameron, a middle aged man from Dublin. He was kind and funny, allowing Alice to cut back her hours when performance time came around, even though he truly couldn't afford the lack of help. She walked the short distance to _Philips_ and slipped inside by the kitchen entrance. Jack Winthrop was already firing up the grill as she walked in and he waved at her as she hung up her coat and put her purse in John's office.

"Morning, Ali." he called jovially. She waved and retrieved an apron. John was wiping down the front counter when she stepped over to the door and turned the sign from closed to open. She unlocked the door and went behind the counter to retrieve a pad of paper and a pencil.

"You all right there, Alice?" John asked in his thick Irish accent. "You look a might pale."

"I'm fine, John." she responded with a weak smile. "I had an asthma attack before I left the house but I'll be fine."

"What happened to your wrists then?" he asked, reaching out to grasp her hand and look at the bruised flesh. She nervously pulled her hand away as he scowled.

"It's nothing." she muttered nervously. John smacked the rag on the counter angrily.

"Nothing, my arse!" he spat, eyes shining with barely contained rage. "Yer father do that?"

"Please John?" she begged quietly. They both glanced over as the bells over the door jangled and two men came in to take a silent seat in the corner. She turned back to John with pleading eyes. "It was an accident. Please, just let it go?"

"Ali, one of these days he's going to really hurt you." John told her firmly. "You oughta leave like yer sister did."

"Some days I wish I had." she muttered as she stepped out from around the counter and approached the men who laughed and joked quietly in the corner. One of them had hair as long as hers. It was raven black and held away from his dark face. He was of Blackfoot stock apparently. It wasn't uncommon for them to get customers from the reservation; they usually came in during the early morning or late night shift.

The other man had hair that fell around his shoulders but was clearly of American descent. He turned to smile at her roguishly as she approached their table. She did her best to plaster a welcoming smile onto her lips as she stopped next to the table and pulled the pad of paper from her apron pocket.

"Morning, Gents," she greeted them merrily, trying for a pleasant tone to go with her pleasant smile "What can I get for you?"

Authors note:

(As you can probably tell, the issue of alcoholism is going to pretty prevalent in this story. Both Uncas and Alice are going to be dealing with Alcoholic relatives for a good portion of it, though to varying degrees.

I actually took the concept of Cora fleeing from their house with a guy who was also being abused from a story in my own aunt ran off when she was sixteen and married a guy because they were both trying to escape a bad situation. It didn't work out for them and Its probably no secret that it won't work out for Cora either. I'm just not sure where I'm going to filter her back in yet. At this point I planned to for more toward the end but it might be sooner. I would like to get her into the story in the middle to start kicking Nate's ass (as people have said in reviews XD).

Next chapter will be back to Uncas POV. I plan for more to come up about Magua's son, Paul, but that may be the fourth chapter, we'll see what I get to. Paul is going to be the thorn in the side of our lovers. He's not going to be as awful as William and his cronies from 'Rabbit', he's not a slimy rapist, but he's not a _good_ guy either. We'll get to see more about his interactions with both Nate and Uncas and ts very different with both.

I made Alice a ballerina for this story because I think it fits her character. I was originally going to make her a pianist but ballerina fit much better. I like Alice as a ballerina. I knew she had some kind of natural talent it just took forever for her to tell me what it was. :P

Since I shared Playlist songs for my other stories, I'll do the same here:

Clarity-by Zedd. This will be an important song to the story later, it's obviously an Uncas/Ali theme.

Glass vase Cello Case-Tattle tale. Also important for later, its Ali's theme.

Mine-Taylor swift. (I actually prefer the glee version of this song, sung by Nataya Riviera. It's slower and more heartfelt) the title of this song details the story for me. I actually came up with this story while listening to this and another song…probably why I chose it as a title. XD

Little talks-Of monsters and Men. Another song that describes the story for me, though that probably won't make sense to anyone until I finish it. I imagine Uncas and Alice singing it together. I even have a little music video of them in my head in regards to this story. I would write it but I don't know that this site allows music fics.


	3. Chapter 3

Uncas glanced up at their waitress absentmindedly when she greeted them and was opening his mouth to respond when he felt all words die in his throat. He was suddenly unable to find his voice or even breathe properly. The girl that looked back at him so expectantly had the bluest eyes he had ever seen in his life. He blinked at her as he fumbled with the simple task of ordering coffee.

The girl standing before him was breathtaking; breathtaking and impossibly tiny. She looked as though she might come up to the middle of his chest if she stood on a box. She was, maybe, twenty one year's old, with moon pale hair that cascaded over her shoulder in a loose pony tail and skin that was so white it was almost translucent. She blinked, her graceful eyebrows raising a little as she waited for his order.

"_Uh_…" he stammered, still unable to form sentences. He swallowed and tried again. "I'm sorry, what?"

"I asked if there was anything I could get you?" she repeated, smiling patiently. Her voice was accented, she sounded like she was from London but with a slight undercurrent of…Scottish? Who _was_ this girl?

Nate looked from Uncas to the girl and back again as Uncas still tried to achieve the difficult task of ordering something. Finally, the other man shook his head and tried to save Uncas from himself.

"Two coffee's if you would, sweetheart?" Nate asked the girl pleasantly before kicking Uncas under the table. Uncas turned his startled eyes to his brother who shot him a 'what the hell is wrong with you' look. The girl wrote their order on her note pad and turned her bottomless blue eyes back to Uncas.

"Anything else?" she queried. All he could do was shake his head mutely. She bobbed her head and walked away to go retrieve their coffee and Nate watched her retreating back for a few seconds before turning his eyes back to his brother.

"What was that about, huh?" he asked as he leaned back in the seat and stretched his legs out under the table. "It's not like you to go all stupid for a pretty face."

Nate was right, it wasn't like him. It was common knowledge on the reservation that Adrian Blackstone didn't date. There had been a few hopeful girls over the years but he never felt attracted enough to any of them to go on more than a few dates. He was awkward in female company, not knowing what to say or how to interact. He usually ended up sitting quietly while they talked at him.

It led to a rumor that he was gay but that died when he failed to show interest in _men_ either. The truth was that he didn't make _time_ to meet people, he was too busy trying to make ends meet and besides, what girl would want to take him on when he was in debt up to his eyeballs? He hadn't cared until about a minute and a half ago. He swung his eyes over to the petite blonde as she gathered up two cups and grabbed the handle of the carafe. He turned his eyes back to the table before she saw him staring.

She returned with two cups and set them before the men on the plastic table. She didn't say anything and Uncas found himself studying the delicate features of her face as she leaned in to pour their coffee. He took in the graceful slope of her nose, the fullness of her pink lips. He studied the graceful eyebrows over the beautiful blue eyes. Finally his eyes settled on the name tag that read simply: Ali. This was the most beautiful creature he had ever seen in his life.

"There now," she breathed out with a faint smile as she finished filling his coffee cup "let me know if you need anything else?"

"Where are you from?" Uncas blurted out before he could stop himself. Ali blinked at him in surprise.

"It's just that…" he was having trouble speaking again. He cleared his throat and tried one more time. "I've never seen you here…before…"

His words sounded lame even to his own ears but she didn't seem to mind. She straightened up and smiled at him warmly.

"Surrey." Ali told him softly. Her voice was so sweet and yet so proper when she spoke, almost cultured. He supposed she couldn't escape that, what with attending form school and all.

"There's another sound under your accent," Uncas heard himself continuing "something different?" He couldn't believe he was talking this much; he never spoke this much to anyone outside the reservation. Nate looked surprised by his sudden outgoingness too.

"Ah, caught that did you?" she asked with a merry laugh, it was like the tinkling of bells. "What you're hearing is because of my father, he hails from Scotland. My sister and I grew up hearing it so we adopted a little of his accent."

"So there are two of you?" Nate interrupted, never missing an opportunity to flirt. "Your sister single?"

"No, I'm afraid she's not." Ali responded quietly, expression closing down and becoming guarded at the mention of her sister. Her eyes looked away from both of them.

It was Uncas turn to kick Nate under the table and Nate gave him a 'what?' look. The girl cleared her throat and recovered from wherever Nate's words had taken her. She shook her head and smiled at them again, even if it was a tight one.

"Anything else?" Ali queried, all business again.

Uncas wanted to order something, anything, just to keep her there a little bit longer. He wanted to know why she closed down at the mention of her sister. He wanted to know why her legs, which were visible under the short skirt, were sculpted like a dancers. He wanted to know why a girl with a voice as sweet and lovely as hers was working in the poor section of rural Montana.

Then he caught sight of her wrist peeking out of the long sweater she wore and balked. Now, he wanted to know who had marred her skin. The finger shaped purple marks shown in bright contrast against the pale flesh. He didn't know what made him do it but his hand shot out to grasp her hand and she gaped at him in surprise.

"Who did that to your wrist?" Uncas heard himself demanding, angrily.

He was suddenly livid looking at that bruise. He wanted the name and address of whoever had done it so that he could beat them bloody. Nate and Ali gaped at him in surprise as he glared at the bruise, forgetting, in his anger, that she owed him no explanation of any sort.

"Nothing it's…" she stammered and gently extracted her wrist from his loose grip. "Nothing, it's nothing. I'll check back on you two in a little bit."

With that Ali walked away from their booth and Uncas rubbed his eyes with two fingers, angry at himself for reacting like that. When he finally removed his hand from his eyes, Nate was regarding him with raised eyebrows.

"Wanna tell me what _that_ was all about?" his brother queried.

"Those were finger marks, someone manhandled her." Uncas muttered as he took a sip of his coffee. It was black and bitter and it fit the mood he now found himself in.

"And that's your concern _how_?" Nate followed, sipping his own coffee.

That's just it, it wasn't his business. He had just met the girl, they had exchanged a few words and then he had gotten all angry and protective. He didn't understand it himself; the thought of someone handling her roughly just felt intolerable to him.

Uncas was vaguely aware of the bells over the door jingling; he was so lost in thought about the bruises on Ali's wrist that he didn't pay attention to the familiar laughing voices that flooded the diner. It wasn't until he saw Nate waving that he thought to look up. What he saw made him scowl as his cousin, Paul, and his band of thugs, made their way over to the booth.

"Well, if it ain't my favorite cousin?" Paul drawled as he leaned against the booth, grinning at Nate. His eyes fell on Uncas and to him he simply said "Ade".

"Paul." Uncas greeted tightly.

Uncas and Paul had never really liked each other, not even as children. Paul tended toward bullying and petty theft where Uncas was content with solitude and painting. They truly had as little in common as was humanly possible.

Much like his father, Paul did not much care for the white population. Unlike Magua, who was content to leave the white man to his world while he stayed in his own; Paul felt the need to antagonize and prove his superiority to the white race. He did this with acts of vandalism and petty theft, claiming the white police had no jurisdiction over him because he was a resident of the Blackfoot nation. He was also known as a 'serial heartbreaker'.

Paul would date white girls for the sole purpose of making them like him so he could drop them like they were trash. He had a knack for finding women who were attracted to bad boys and stringing them along until they became attached. Once he felt he had them hooked he threw them away and laughed while they cried, not understanding his sudden disdain.

Paul was both repelled and enthralled by the paler town girls. It was that attraction that made him pursue them but it was the disdain that made him discard them. He was a bully, pure and simple, and Uncas had little use for him.

"Sorry, gentleman, but I need to get by?" Uncas heard Ali's soft voice staying as she muscled around a guy named Colin. She was just laying their bill on the table and refilling Nate's coffee when Paul took notice of her.

"Well, hello, _Odette_." Paul greeted sarcastically, his lip turning up in scorn. Odette? Why did he call her Odette? Ali stiffened at the sound of his voice and Uncas saw her scowl before she schooled her expression and turned to face his cousin with a firm glare.

"You know that's not my name, Mr. Blackstone." she told him quietly but firmly. Uncas glanced between the two of them in surprise. How did this girl know his cousin?

"How's that sister of yours doing?" Paul continued as he leaned against the booth, still smiling at her patronizingly. He was acting like she hadn't corrected him at all.

"As I told you last week and the week before that, Mr. Blackstone, I haven't spoken to her." Ali responded flatly. "Now would you like to order something because I have things I need to attend to if you don't."

"C'mon now, _Odette_," Paul continued in that voice that was trying for suave but only managed to achieve condescension "We both know that _anemia plagued idiot_ won't do anything for her. She likes it wild and rough."

He reached out to pull Ali toward him with one hand gripping her ass tightly. Uncas saw her eyes widen and her mouth tighten in scorn as Paul pulled her into him and leaned into her face.

"What about you, little sister?" he purred. "Bet you like it rough too?"

Uncas jumped up out of his seat with that same protective anger rushing through his head at a hot boil. He was about to fly across the small space at his cousin when he saw Ali lift the coffee pot over his shoulder. She smiled up at Paul in mock sweetness.

"I suggest you remove your hand before I tip mine." She threatened quietly. Paul's eyes glanced to his left and caught sight of the carafe where she held it near his shoulder. There was no lie in her face; she was completely prepared to spill the hot liquid all over him if he didn't release her. A look of scorn crossed Paul's face and he scoffed before dropping his hand.

Ali gave him one more glare before she stepped back and away from him. She was about to walk away when Paul's hand shot out and grabbed her wrist firmly. Uncas saw Ali grimace in pain as Paul squeezed her already bruised flesh.

"You tell Cora we're not through until I _say_ we're through." Paul's harsh voice commanded. "You tell her that!" It was then that Uncas stepped out of the booth and stomped over to get between Ali and his cousin. He grabbed Paul's wrist and quickly found the painful pressure point on the man's wrist that made him hiss in pain and release Ali's arm.

"What the _fuck_, Ade!" his cousin spat as he shook the pain from his wrist. Behind him, Ali drew in a shaky breath.

"You don't touch her." Uncas growled at the other man. The other gathered men and Nate blinked at him in surprise.

"What's she to _you_?" Paul countered angrily, gesturing at Ali with his head. Uncas narrowed his eyes and didn't answer. He and Paul glared at each other silently for a long time before Paul scoffed again and gestured to the men he had come in with.

"Whatever." he spat, still shooting Uncas dirty looks. He and the other guys strode toward the diner door and filtered out slowly. Paul waited at the door and turned expectant eyes to Nate.

"You still coming tonight?" he asked Uncas brother, his voice still thick with anger. Nate gave him a brief nod and Paul shot another hard glare in Uncas direction before leaving as well. Once he was gone, Uncas turned back to Ali, who was breathing a little unevenly, her wrist held to her chest.

"Are you alright?" he asked worriedly when he heard a faint wheezing sound coming from her. Her eyes held an intense concentration as she drew breath after carefully maintained breath. He watched her shut her eyes for a moment as the wheezing slowly faded away.

"Fine," she said, opening her eyes again. "I'm fine."

He brought his hands up slowly to take the wrist she had cradled to her chest into his hands. He studied the bruised flesh closely, holding her skin gently so he didn't cause her discomfort.

"Did he hurt you?" Uncas asked her quietly. He raised his eyes back to her face to find she was studying him curiously.

"No." she answered a little breathlessly.

They stared at each other for so long that Nate cleared his throat in discomfort. Uncas dropped his hands from Ali's wrist and she stepped back from him, straightening up again.

"_Ahem_," she cleared her throat nervously "_uh_, thank you for your help, Mr. Ade-"

"It's Uncas." he corrected quickly, cutting off whatever she had been about to say.

"Oh, but Paul called you-"

"Yeah I know. My legal name is Adrian but everyone who knows me just calls me Uncas." he explained, giving her a nervous smile.

"Everyone but _him_ you mean?" she asked, finally giving him a ghost of a smile.

Paul steadfastly refused to call Uncas by his second name. This was partially due to jealousy on Paul's part that he still had yet to earn his own second name and partially an attempt to show disrespect for Uncas. Either way it would be a cold day in hell before Paul would refer to him as anything other than his 'White' name.

"Yeah, everyone but him." Uncas muttered. Ali studied his face for a moment before sticking her hand out to shake his.

"I'm Alice," she said kindly. "Alice Munro."

He shook her hand, repressing a shiver at the feel of her long elegant finger wrapped around his. Her skin looked so pale against his own, like looking at the moon against a darkening sky.

"But you can call me Ali." she finished with a smile.

Nate was getting to his feet behind Uncas, having put a few dollars down for the coffee. He stepped up next to his brother and looked at their still clasped hands in faint amusement.

"You gonna stand there like that all day?" Nate asked him teasingly. Uncas dropped Ali's hand and she smiled as she rubbed the back of her neck with it.

"Well, thank you again." she told him, clearing her throat.

Nate had to practically drag him to the door. He held her eyes the whole way, unable to look away. He held her eyes until Nate pulled him out the door and she was lost from view. He might have stood there staring at the closed door all day if Nate hadn't thrown an arm around his shoulders and began dragging him down the sidewalk.

"I think my little brother has a crush." he joked, getting Uncas in a loose choke hold and laughing.

Uncas pulled out of Nate's grasp and they playfully roughhoused their way back toward the reservation. Uncas didn't say anything about his supposed 'crush' and the two men returned home a short time later. Apparently the coffee had done the trick and Nate dragged himself out the door to report for his duties in sanitation.

Since it was Uncas day off he took the time to work on his unfinished paintings. His normal subject matter was Native American mythology with an abstract flair. This day, however, he couldn't get Alice Munro's face out of his mind. He abandoned the other unfinished works and put up a fresh canvas. He began a new drawing, intending to do something else abstract but, Instead of abstract lines, he ended up sketching the graceful plains of Ali's face. Instead of random shapes he drew her eyes, her nose, and the fall of her hair.

When the sketch was done, he went to gather his paints and realized with disappointment that he didn't have the right colors for her skin tone. He painted her eyes instead, getting as close to the prairie blue as he could. Next, he painted her hair, streaking white into the yellow to mimic the moonlike quality of the strands. When he had painted everything but her face it was beginning to get dark outside.

Uncas stepped back to look at the painting and felt like he couldn't leave her half-finished. Unfortunately, in order to finish the painting, he needed the proper colors. That meant driving into town to the only store that sold his supplies. He tried to tell himself it wasn't important right now, the skin tone could wait, but even as he told himself this he was grabbing his father's jacket. His hands were reaching into the pocket for his car keys and he was out the door and heading for his truck. He sat behind the wheel for a full minute, thinking about what Nate had said earlier.

'_I think my little brother has a crush.'_

He gave a chuckle as he turned the key in the ignition and pulled out of the drive, turning the truck and making his way toward town.

"No, Nate," he thought to himself "not a crush."

He had skipped crush altogether and rushed head long into something else entirely.

Authors note:

(Well, there's our villain for the story, guys. Not the nicest of men, huh? Paul is…an interesting character in my head. It took me a long time to figure out his connection to Alice. Originally, she was going to be the one that had dated him but it just didn't quite fit in my narrative. I can't imagine Alice dating someone that sleazy. I'll get more into Cora's relationship with him in the next chapter as well as Paul's nickname for Alice.

In regards to DearestAmy's question about "little talks', don't worry…I don't plan for either Uncas or Alice to fall into mental illness or anything that dire as implied in the song. I didn't take the song to be about that when I first heard it and that's often the case for me. I'll hear something and take the meaning completely differently than what's implied.

When I was in college I thought that 'everything' by Lifehouse was about being really deeply in love with someone. It wasn't until my college roommate pointed out that it was about Jesus that I realized I had taken it wrong. This happens to me a lot. XD For me, Little Talks is more about getting through hardship together…which is what this story will get into later

Only other thing of interest I guess is that I wrote this chapter while listening to 'Spectrum' by Zedd. I'm beginning to really love that band; they're helping me through a lot of these chapters.)


	4. Chapter 4

Ali left the Easton Dance studio as the sun was sinking below the mountains that dotted the horizon. She breathed in the cold air of early March and let it out in a deep sigh. She had _had_ a very odd day. Thankfully, the repetition of the dance number they had rehearsed that evening had been a good way of refocusing herself. As she had suspected, the directors of the Easton dance company did _not_ appreciate the new bruises gracing her wrists.

"The Swan cannot appear marred." Julia had chastised her. "She must be flawless, elegant, not look like the beaten spouse of a drunken sailor."

Alice had hung her head and nodded her understanding, swallowing anything derisive she might have said back. Julia had not been wrong, of course. Alice had been given the part of the Swan partially because of her natural grace while on point and partially because she was so god damn pale. Julia's words were harsh but Alice understood them, there was a lot riding on this performance.

The money from it could buy the studio a new dance floor, mirrors, a better stereo system; it would do the company a great deal of good. Thankfully for Alice, the opening night of 'Swan Lake' was not for another month and that was plenty of time for the purple flesh to heal up.

She walked home, thinking about the events of the day. She thought about the man from the reservation that had stood up to Paul for her. She thought about the smoothness of his mahogany colored skin and the ardent, exposed emotion in his dark eyes. Truthfully, when she had approached the booth to take their order she hadn't given him much thought past the familiarity of seeing another gentleman from the Reservation.

It hadn't been until he had grabbed her hand to inquire about her bruises that she had truly taken him in. It was his hands that she noticed first, as strange as that sounded. His hands had been beautiful with their long, tapered fingers and smooth, unbroken, dark skin. His palms had been a sharp contrast, rough and calloused where they held her hand. What was his profession that kept the backs of his hands so perfect but roughened up the flesh underneath?

She had retreated in nervousness when he asked about her injury. His eyes had been so angry and protective. It was an emotion she couldn't account for. If she was being honest, it scared her a little. Ali didn't think she truly appreciated how much taller he was either, not until he came between her and Paul.

Sitting in that booth, she couldn't gauge his height. He was all straight lines. All long limbs from the top of his head to the bottom of his feet, even his hair fell in a straight line. When he had moved in front of her that dark hair had fanned out softly into her face, and when he turned to face her, after Paul had retreated from the diner… she found she had to tilt her head to look up at him.

Ali pushed her key into the lock of the apartment building and stopped at the mail box to see if there was a postcard from Cora. The last one had come from Texas with only two words written on the back: Miss you. She hoped Cora was happy wherever she ended up. She hoped Duncan was kind to her sister who had only had a series of bad relationships before running away with him. Paul had unfortunately been one of them.

Alice found nothing from Cora and slumped her shoulders sullenly as she climbed the stairs to the apartment. Turning the key in the lock and pushing the door in, she was greeted by the dark and empty apartment. Much as she had feared, her father was no longer in his arm chair. She shook her head as she slapped the mail down on the counter and walked the short distance to her room. She turned on the light and gasped.

"What the hell!" Ali exclaimed as she saw that her room had been torn apart. Drawers were open on her dresser with clothes having been pulled out and scattered all over the room. Her nightstand was hanging ajar as well and her books had been pulled from the shelf to lie in a pile on the floor.

"No, no, no…" she moaned as she ran to the book shelf to look for the book she kept her stash of tips in. She didn't find it on the shelf which meant it was on the floor. She dropped to her knees to frantically search for the last weeks' worth of tips she had yet to deposit in the bank.

"Dammit papa, "she cursed as she found the book she was seeking and opened it to the middle section "Why?"

The book was empty, all the bills missing. She cursed again and flung the book across the room where it bounced off the wall. She ran her hands back through her hair to keep from screaming and cursed herself for not trying to make it to the bank today. She had traded in the bank trip for the pharmacy one and now she was paying the price.

Angrily, she pushed to her feet and stomped back out her bedroom door, hauling up the purse she had dropped on the counter with her mail. As an afterthought she switched out the nearly empty inhaler for the new one before slamming her way out of the apartment. Stupid, that's what she was. She had known he would try to go out and get sloshed again. What she didn't think about was the fact that he had most likely spent all his ready cash on last night's binge. Lacking the necessary funds, he had gone through her room until he found her stash of tips.

Now she would have to walk the town, again trying to find him and, if she was lucky, maybe he wouldn't have spent all of her money. Alice had angry tears swimming in her eyes as she threw open the door leading outside and stomped around the corner in a huff, heading for Gilligan's Tavern. It was a good place to start anyway.

"Stupid." she berated herself, glaring at her feet.

It's no wonder she ran right into a solid chest, she was hardly paying attention to anything in front of her. She bounced back a step and fell as long arms came out to grasp her elbows. A bag fell at her feet, spilling contents on the pavement as the arms righted her. She turned her head up to both apologies to and thank whoever had kept her from landing on the concrete when her eyes took in the perfect lines that made up the man from the diner. She looked up into his dark, handsome face and he looked just as surprised to see her as she was to see him.

"Mr. Uncas," Ali gasped in surprise "I'm so sorry, I…" she looked down at the tubes of paint that were scattered around them on the sidewalk. She halted in her apology and knelt to begin collecting the tubes he had dropped when he caught her.

"I wasn't watching where I was going." she continued, speaking quickly. "I made you drop your paint, is any of it damaged?"

She picked up a tube to study it, making sure nothing had been punctured. She didn't have the ready cash to buy him new paint if it was. The long fingers of those gorgeous hands closed over hers as she was studying the object. She stopped speaking and looked up into his dark eyes in embarrassment.

"Forget the paint." he said dismissively, ignoring the scattered tubes still lying around them. "Are you okay? There are tears on your cheeks."

Alice breathed in sharply and scrubbed at her face, she hadn't even realized the angry tears had escaped her eyes. She sniffed once and looked away.

"I'm fine." she muttered. He surprised her again by turning her face back to his with those long beautiful fingers.

"Then why are you running around at night, crying?" he asked her gently.

She stared at him for a long time, marveling at the mixture of gentleness and tenderness in his face. Finally she sighed and pushed back to her feet, straightening her coat as he stood up to face her. She pushed her hair back out of her face and frowned.

"I'm looking for my father." Ali admitted. "The drunken _idiot_ tore my room apart looking for money and now I'm looking for _him_ so I can get it back."

"He stole from you? Uncas said, incredulity evident in his deep voice.

"Wouldn't be the first time." she muttered indignantly. Uncas was quiet for a minute as he studied her.

"I can help you look for him, if you like?" he offered kindly.

"Oh, no, I wouldn't want to impose on-"

"You're not." he reassured. "I just need to put the paint in my truck, it's over that way." He gestured over his shoulder with his thumb and she looked around him at a beaten up old Chevy that had seen better days.

"You really don't have to help me-"she started to argue again. Once more, he cut her off.

"I want to." he replied softly.

She went quiet as she stared at his honest and clear eyes. He was obviously a bit anxious in her presence, like a nervous horse that wants to approach a human but is frightened of being struck. She couldn't imagine anyone _wanting_ to strike someone as lovely as him. There wasn't any harm in letting him help her, she supposed. Maybe she could locate her father quicker with his help.

"Alright." Ali agreed, smiling faintly.

She helped him gather up the fallen paint and deposit it back in the paper bag it had tumbled out of. Then they walked over to the truck with its peeling paint and dented bumper. Uncas unlocked the creaky door and put the paint in the passenger seat before re-locking it and turning back to her.

"So where do we start?" he queried, pushing his hands into his pockets.

"Well, Gilligan's is a good start," she offered as they began to walk side by side back the way they had come "next, we can try Byron's Tavern or McGillacutty's; wherever they serve liquor, really."

They walked in awkward silence for a while, neither knowing what to say. Alice wanted to ask about Paul and how they knew each other but didn't know how to begin. The silence stretched on for so long that it became uncomfortable. Finally, Alice couldn't take it anymore and opened her mouth to speak.

"How do you know Paul?" They both blurted out at the same time.

They gaped at each other in surprise and then laughed. Alice liked how his face lit up when he laughed. He always looked so serious and thoughtful. Laughter lit up his eyes, made them shine. The laugh itself sent a shiver up her spine. It was deep, melodious, a man's laugh.

"You first?" she said after the laughter faded. He grinned at her and shrugged his shoulders.

"Not much to tell. He's my cousin, he's an ass."

"Well, on that we can agree." Ali said as they passed glowing shop fronts. "Forgive me, but he doesn't treat you like family."

"That's because we don't much care for each other." Uncas revealed with another shrug. "He gets my brother into a great deal of trouble; I don't have much use for the man."

"Your brother?" Ali repeated.

"Yeah, Nate, the guy I came into the diner with."

She stopped to blink at him, confused.

"That man is your brother?" she questioned and he nodded. "I'm sorry but you look nothing alike." At that Uncas laughed again and she found herself smiling back as they returned to walking side by side.

"My parents adopted him as a baby." Uncas explained. "Mom died when we were kids and dad just last year. It's only Nate and I now."

"I'm sorry." Alice murmured. There was another moment of silence as Uncas shook off any sad thoughts.

"Your turn? he countered. "How do _you_ know my asshole of a cousin?"

"Hah." she snorted out a bitter laugh. "I hardly _know_ him at all; he dated my sister for half a second about three months ago."

She went on to explain about how Paul had met her sister when he came into _Phillips_ the same time as Cora. Paul had been charming then, if a little rough around the edges, and as he had said, her sister liked a bad boy. They had only gone on a few dates before Cora figured out he wasn't as charming as he pretended to be. She had ended the relationship before he could hurt her like all the others.

"I don't think he liked her being the one to walk away." Alice explained as she saw the sign for Gilligan's in the distance. "He kept calling and coming around until she called the police. Then he just got angry. She left town about a month ago, I haven't heard from her in a while."

"Why does he call you '_Odette'_?" Uncas asked with narrowed eyebrows. Alice laughed as he gave her a strange look.

"He calls me _Odette_ because that's the part I landed in the Easton production of 'Swan Lake'." she told him with a bemused smile. "It was the only conversation he had with my sister that he retained."

"You're a dancer?" Uncas asked, his expression was one of faint surprise. Ali smiled, undaunted by this. She was quite petite and most people expected ballerina's to be tall and willowy. The reality was that it was all about the feet. One could train their entire childhood, maintain the perfect body, and still have the wrong feet for going on point. Alice had been lucky in that department.

"I know it's hard to believe." she laughed as they stopped in front of the door of the bar. "I don't look much like a dancer."

"Actually, I think it suits you perfectly." he blurted out, surprising her as she was opening the door. She glanced back at him and his face was a little red. She didn't think he intended to say that out loud.

"You look very graceful," he clarified lamely. "Like a doe."

"Thank you." Ali breathed out softly. They stared at each other a minute longer while another patron walked up and cleared his throat to be let inside. Alice took that as a cue to get on with it as they made their way into the dark bar to look for her father. They didn't find him there so they walked a block and half to the next bar and didn't find him there either. By the third bar, Alice was ready to give up entirely, weariness weighing in on her from all the walking.

"Thank you for helping me look," She said to Uncas as they left the third and final bar "but I'm beat. I'm just going to give up and go home."

"Alright, let me walk you at least?"

"Oh no," she argued "I've imposed on you enough-"

"It would make me feel better." Uncas interrupted her, smiling. "You can protect _me_ from the thugs and cocaine addicts."

"Ha ha." she laughed, rolling her eyes. They strolled side by side again as she led the way toward their tiny apartment. In spite of why she was out here, Alice had to admit that running into Uncas again had been the most pleasant part of her day. He had an easy presence and once he opened up, he could be quite funny.

They had spent a good portion of the search for her father talking about their lives. He told her about his job as a firefighter on the reservation and she told him about her career with the dance studio. She ended up having to explain the plot of 'Swan Lake' to him as, by his own admission, he had never been to the ballet.

"I can see why they chose you to be the Swan." Uncas had commented when she finished her explanation.

"Why, because I'm so pale?" she had countered teasingly.

"No, because of your stillness." he had answered. "You're graceful like a swan; your movements are very swan-like in a way."

"Thank you." Ali had responded for what felt like the millionth time that night. She wasn't paid compliments very often and his were masterfully given. They weren't flowery or insincere as other men's, more like observations that just happened to work in her favor.

They were just coming up on her apartment when her eyes zeroed in on a dark lump sitting slumped against the stone wall. Alice narrowed her eyes and squinted into the dark as she realized it was her father. It looked like he had made his way home and passed out while trying to open the door.

"Oh, for the love of-" she huffed as she hurried over to kneel in front of him. She could hear Uncas foot falls behind her as he approached. "Papa?" she called as she lifted his face with her hands and gave him a shake. "Papa, wake up!"

"_Wah_!" he gasped, blood shot eyes opening to take in her face. "_Wah_, Ali…is it time for work?"

Alice sighed and pulled her mouth into a hard line as she reached into his jacket pocket to search for the money he had stolen from her.

"Time for bed, more like," she grumbled as her hands closed over the sparse bills that remained, "honestly, Papa! How long are we going to do this dance?"

She pulled the money out and when his eyes fell on the bills in her hand they hardened. She watched his face shift from sleepy to angry in just a few seconds.

"Don't you steal from me you, you filthy _Bint_!" he snarled as he lifted his fist to strike her.

The blow never landed. Uncas crashed into him from the opposite side, pinning the heavier drunken man against the pavement.

"Try to hit her again and I will end you, old man!" Uncas growled, holding her father by the front of his shirt. He blinked up at Uncas in a mix of surprise and anger. Alice gaped at the scene, shocked and unable to move or speak.

"Git offa me you gangly _dobber!"_ her father spat as Uncas glared down into his red face. Alice finally found her voice as she went over to kneel next to them.

"Mr. Uncas, please..it's alright!" she cried, laying her hands on her arms. Her father struggled underneath him. "You can let him up now!"

"Let go of me you great _lavvy-heid_!" her father continued, throwing insults left and right. Uncas didn't move as her drunken father called him every slur he had in his vocabulary. Finally, Uncas hauled him to his feet as he tried in vain to hit the taller man. He got him in a bear hug from behind and Edmund fought and kicked to no avail.

"Ok, here's how this is going to work." Uncas said, raising his voice to be heard over her father's loud ranting. "We're going to get you inside and you're going to calm down. You are going to sober up and if I find out you've attempted to strike Ali again I will come back her and _scalp_ your sorry ass. Are we clear?"

Alice watched the whole scene in stunned silence as her father tried a few more times to get out of the hold Uncas had on him before finally petering out and slumping dejectedly. He muttered his understanding as Uncas released him, pushing the door open and gesturing for him to go in.

Edmund muttered angrily the entire way up the stairs, not looking at either of them as Alice unlocked the door to their apartment. Once she got the door open, he muscled past her roughly and disappeared inside. When he was out of earshot, Alice turned back to Uncas, mortified.

"I'm so sorry," she apologized miserably. "I hoped you wouldn't have to see him like that."

"Ali, did he do that to you wrists?" Uncas asked, ignoring her apology. She blinked at him, stunned, before lowering her eyes.

"It was an accident." She mumbled without conviction.

"I doubt that." he responded angrily. Ali looked back up at him with embarrassment still shining in her eyes. "Why do you stay here? Isn't there anywhere else you could go?"

"Someone has to look after him." she argued. "Cora is gone, there's only me now."

"There must be someone that can help you with him." Uncas said back quietly. Alice shook her head and gripped the door in her hand.

"No, there's no one but me." she answered sadly before giving him a weak smile. "Thank you for everything you did tonight. It's more…It's more than anyone's done in a long time."

She turned to go inside when she felt his fingers close over hers on the door. Slowly she turned back to look at him and found him standing very close to her.

"Can I see you again?" he asked quickly. She stared at him, stunned.

"I'd like that." she answered after a few pounding heartbeats. She felt a smile spreading slowly over her face. He returned it before stepping back from her.

"Good night, Swan-girl." Uncas said gently and then turned to make his way to the stairwell.

"Good night." she whispered at his retreating back before stepping into the apartment and closing the door quietly behind her.

Author's note:

(That turned out to be a very long chapter. You have my toddler to thank for that, he slept longer today ^^. I'm taking their relationship a little slower if you haven't noticed. I feel like I've already done the 'Instantly in love' trope enough. I wanted to show the slower progression of a romance instead of having them dive into anything.

Tomorrow is back to Uncas POV, maybe another scene with Paul. I've got a rather big Paul scene planned but I don't know when I'm going to make it happen. It was originally planned for this chapter but in order to keep things realistic I'm going to wait a little while on that.

Thanks for all the reviews, you're all very kind. I'm glad you like the prose style I'm adopting for this. I wanted to write something where Uncas and Alice describe each other a bit more. Obviously we all know what they look like from the movie so usually those descriptions get thrown by the wayside. The thing about finding his hands beautiful is all me. I actually love Eric Schweig's (the actors) hands. They are probably the most beautiful hands I've ever seen in my life. I wanted to incorporate that in here for Ali

Ok, guys, that's all for now. More tomorrow ^^)


	5. Chapter 5

As Uncas made his way back to the reservation he had every intention of taking a shower and going to bed. The following day would be a long one, full of endless drills preparing for the yearly brushfires. He would have to report for training in late morning and likely stay until late afternoon. He pulled into the driveway, carried his paints into the kitchen, and was preparing to make his way to the bathroom when he turned to look at his unfinished rendering of Ali.

He thought about her laugh as they walked and talked along the city streets. He thought about her bemused smile when she shared a story, and about her part as the Swan in the upcoming ballet. He thought of all of this as he walked over to the painting he had worked on all day. He reached out a hand to touch the unfinished part of her face.

As though compelled to do so, Uncas retrieved the new paints and walked back over to the painting that was missing both flesh tone and background. His hand moved for the pencil of its own accord and began to move over the canvas. Behind Ali, he traced the graceful body of a swan sitting on still water. Once the drawing was finished he took up the paintbrush once again and began to add color to her face. Despite, his intentions to turn in early, it was a long time before he got to that shower, let alone to bed.

As Uncas suspected, the next day was a long one. He had intended to head over to _Phillips_ in the morning for the sole purpose of getting Alice Munro's phone number, which he had stupidly forgotten to _ask_ for the previous night. The morning trip never happened because he received a phone call in the morning, stating the drill time had been moved up to even earlier, so he had to drag himself out of bed and head over to the training area instead.

Then he decided he would go over at lunch, but the reservation fire department provided them with lunch so he had no excuse to leave. Finally, he resolved to head over before the dinner rush as he knew she would be heading out for the dance studio around that time, or so she had told him the night before. Drills ended a little before four o'clock and left him about fifteen minutes to get to the diner before her shift ended.

He must have broken every speed law both on and off the reservation getting there. He screeched into the parking lot as Ali was coming out of the diner and tying a knot in the belt around her white coat. Over her shoulder she carried a large black duffle bag. Ali looked up as he all but fell out of his car, legs still aching from the hours of running and lifting and running again.

"Mr. Uncas." Ali said in surprise as he caught himself on his truck hood when his aching legs tried to give out on him.

"Don't.. haffta…call me…Mister." he groaned out as he straightened back up and ran his hand back through his sweaty hair "Mister was something people called my dad. I'm just Uncas."

She smirked at this and gave a little laugh as she looked him up and down. He was sure he looked utterly filthy. If he had more time, he would have showered, but as he had raced over from drills he hadn't given much thought to his appearance.

"Well, 'just Uncas'," she responded teasingly. "You look a little…" she trailed off as she tried to come up with a polite term.

"Gross?" he finished for her. Ali laughed and shook her head.

"I was going to say 'worse for wear' but I suppose that one works too." she responded with a smile before gesturing over her shoulder with her thumb. "My shift is up but Alexandra is here, if you still want to eat, that is?"

"Actually, I came for a different reason. I wanted to ask you something."

"Alright, but can you ask it while we walk, I need to get to the studio?" Ali requested, still grinning at him amusedly.

"You don't have a car? "he asked, surprised.

"Can't afford one." Ali responded with a shrug.

"Well, here," he offered, walking around the car to open the passenger door. "I'll give you a lift to the studio."

"You don't have to do that." she responded softly.

"I want to," Uncas answered "besides, it serves two purposes: I can ask my question and not have to _walk_ all the way back to my car."

She gave another quiet laugh as she walked over to the door he held open. She deposited her duffle bag in the truck bed before turning to smile up into his face.

"Fair enough, you look like you're about to drop anyway."

"Thank you!" he declared dramatically, as though the thought of more movement than was necessary was too much. She giggled as he shut the door and he walked around to crawl into the driver's seat.

They didn't speak until he was out on the main road again, going in the direction she pointed. Once they stopped at a red light she turned to regard him with that same amused smile. She leaned her head against the head rest as she studied his profile.

"So what was your question?" she asked.

"What?" he said distractedly, turning to blink at her.

"You rushed to the diner because you had a question, what was it?"

He had totally forgotten his original reason for coming out to see her once they had gotten onto the road. He shook himself and gave a nervous laugh.

"I forgot to get your number last night." he said as the light changed and he pulled back out into rush hour traffic. Next to him he felt rather than saw Ali's smile widen.

"You rushed all the way to the diner for that?"

"Who say's I rushed?" Uncas joked, shooting her an innocent look.

"You practically collapsed next to your car, I call that rushing." she responded, chuckling.

"Fair enough." Uncas agreed as she pointed out the dance studio up ahead. He pulled into a parking spot and cut the engine before turning to look at her again.

"So can I have your number?"

"I haven't decided yet." Ali answered coyly. He felt a slow smile spreading over his face as he looked at the happy blush in her cheeks. She began to gather up her purse and bag before hopping gracefully out of the side of his truck. He got out on the other side as she was walking away, still smiling.

"What will it take to get it?" he called. She whirled at the door to smile at him, holding it open with one hand.

"Come back at eight, you can have it then." she answered.

"What's so special about eight?" he called, wondering if his voice sounded as happy as he felt.

"It's when I'm done for the day. Who knows, maybe we can do something." And then she disappeared inside.

Uncas drove back home and took that shower, god knew if she still wanted to be around him after he asked her out smelling like he _did_, then his chances should be that much better while clean. He passed the four hours while she danced getting some things done around the house before heading back for the dance studio at 7:30. He arrived early enough that they weren't finished yet. He climbed out of his truck and caught sight of her dancing through the brightly lit studio windows.

She wore a black leotard that hugged every inch of her body and he realized that he had never seen her in anything other than her work uniform and that white coat. Everything about her was small from her bust to her feet. He watched in wonder as she spun and twirled, all that moon-like hair fanning out behind her. She looked radiant, in her element, and he thought once again that he would never see anything as beautiful as the girl twirling on her toes in that studio.

When she did finally emerge, her hair was falling down around her face and shoulders and there was a red glow in her cheeks from the exercise. He was pleased to note she seemed happy to see him as she made her way over to his car.

"You came back." she greeted softly.

"I came back." he repeated, smiling at her from where she stood in the light from the street lamp. It made a gold halo behind her head. She gave a soft smile as she lowered her eyes for a moment before peeking back up at him demurely.

"Can I have your number now?" he asked after they were silent for longer than was necessary. She blinked as though she had forgotten before nodding.

"Hand me your phone?' she requested, holding out her hand. He took it out of his pocket and handed it to her as she punched her number into it quickly.

"You dance beautifully." he told her when she handed it back. She started in surprise.

"How long did-"

"Not very, I just got back here." Uncas clarified before she thought he was the creepy guy that sat outside in the bushes watching the dancers for hours on end. She tilted her head and gave him an appraising look.

"You really are this charming, aren't you?" she asked then. "It's not an act."

He gave a bark of laughter at that.

"I don't think 'charming' is a word most people would use for me." Uncas corrected as he went to open the car door for her.

"Oh, and what would they say?" she asked as she sat down.

"Introverted, probably," He answered when he climbed into his side of the car "shy." He started the car before realizing he didn't know where he was going.

"Um, where exactly are we going?" he asked abruptly, laughing at their lack of planning.

"Well, you've seen some of _my_ world. Why don't you show me some of yours?" she offered quietly.

He felt that slow smile spreading over his face again. He knew just the place. He pulled the car out of the studio parking lot and headed back for the reservation.

Authors note:

(Obviously, the baby didn't sleep as long today. I had actually intended to get them to the reservation and have another conversation but uh…yeah…didn't happen. :p Oh well, there always tomorrow. I think I've changed some of the plot for this over the last day or so. I had it planned out fairly well from beginning to end but I think I just made it longer and…maybe more complicated.

This is more of a relationship story; a great deal of it is going to be the ups and downs of their relationship while they date, getting to know each other, deal with life problems and stigma's, and make choices about their future.

I think I had initially intended it to be a 'our couple gets together, Paul throws monkey wrench into gears, couple comes out on top, done' story. And to some extent it's still _that_ in my mind but Paul's probably not going to be as big of a factor as I originally intended him to be. I think the biggest issue that Uncas and Ali are going to have, the _villain_ of the story if you will, is going be cultural differences. Their biggest challenge is going to be deciding what they really want from life and each other and meeting in the middle on that.

So, I think you guys might be in for a longer ride on this story (that could be good or bad, it depends on how you look at it. XD). I might end up writing a frickin' novel here ^^)


	6. Chapter 6

Uncas drove them back toward the diner and then pulled the car out onto a stretch of open country side. Alice watched as a sign indicating they were entering land owned by the Blackfoot nation loomed up ahead. She leaned forward, feeling the slightest tingle of excitement run through her. She had never been on an Indian reservation before. They passed the sign, coming out into flattened fields with tilled earth, before she finally began to see lit cabins dotting the roadside.

Uncas drove for another couple of miles before turning down a dirt road that was lined with trees. Alice imagined that, in the summer, the trees created a canopy over the road. She tried to imagine sunlight filtering through the leaves and the buzzing of insects in the trees. She found herself hoping he would bring her this way again during the summer months and then shook herself. She hardly knew him, why was she making future plans for them?

They drove down the road a little farther and then he pulled his car to a stop in front of a line of trees. Cutting the engine, Uncas hopped down from his side of the truck before walking around to help Ali out of hers. Still holding onto her hand, he pulled her around the front of the truck and she gasped to see a wide lake spreading out before them in the twilight. There was a Pier that extended out a short ways, the kind that mostly floated by way of buoys underneath and was moored to the ground where one stepped onto it. In the distance she could see city lights shining on the water, reminding her of fairy lights on a Christmas tree.

"What a wonderful view." Ali breathed out as she stepped away from Uncas to marvel at the still water that was shining purple in the fading light. She heard his footfalls on the gravel as he came to stand beside her.

"We came here every summer to swim," he said wistfully "Mom, dad, Nate and me. Those were the good days."

"You don't come here anymore?" she asked, turning to study his profile. He looked sad to her and she felt a sudden need to take that sadness from his eyes and protect him from ever feeling it again.

"It's been a while." he admitted. "I don't think I've been back since dad died."

"I'm sorry." Ali said quietly and Uncas shook himself, smiling. He reached out to take her hand again and pulled her down toward the dock.

"If it were summer, you could see the fireflies on the water. If you think the city lights are impressive then you haven't seen anything until you've been here in July."

He led her down onto the dock, which wobbled a bit under their feet. He took her over to the posts that were meant for tying up fishing boats and they sat against them, staring out over the water. Alice sighed happily, her body relaxed after the rigorous rehearsal, happy to have such a calm setting to look out on.

"I haven't been to a lake since my father took us to Scotland. God, that's been… almost six years ago now." Ali said, leaning her head against the post.

"Thank you for bringing me here, it's lovely."

"Well you said you wanted to see my world, this was part of it for a long time." Uncas sounded sad again. Ali turned her eyes from the solitude of the lake to look at him. His eyes were still staring wistfully out over the water.

"Tell me about your family?" she requested, speaking softly. She watched him look from the water to his fingers that were resting against his upraised knee. He stared at them for a while before bringing his eyes back up to stare into the distance.

"Not much to tell. Mom died when I was a kid, dad last year. It's just Nate and I now."

"My mother died when I was a baby, I never knew her." Ali told him quietly, following his gaze out toward the city lights. "Cora told me she was a singer."

"Is that when your dad started drinking?" he asked. Ali shook her head, now looking down at her own hands which she had folded in her lap.

"No," she answered after a moment "no, that happened when he was discharged from the army. He was injured during a training drill; _uh_…a new soldier didn't check the safety on his gun and it went off and...well…" She threw her hand up to indicate he could probably figure the rest out for himself.

"We came here and he took to the bottle. Cora tried to get him to stop a number of times but…she couldn't take it anymore. She left about a month ago."

"She left you alone with him?" Uncas voice was incredulous and angry, as though he couldn't understand how her sister could do that. Ali smiled over at him though it was a sad one.

"Don't judge her too harshly; she wanted me to go with her." Alice tried to explain. "I chose to stay behind. I'm not as strong as her, you see."

"I wouldn't call staying behind to take care of your father a weakness." Uncas responded kindly. Again she gave him what she knew was a sad smile.

"You're sweet," she answered "but I think I was just too scared to leave and start again in a new place. I just joined this dance company, just got offered my first big part. I can't take off now."

"Speaking of dancing," he interjected, as though he were changing the subject. She let him; she didn't want to talk about her sister anymore. Ali looked up at him, waiting, "what is that weird twirl thing Ballerina's always do? You know, the one with the arms up like this?" he said holding his arms awkwardly above his head. Ali laughed and raised an eyebrow.

"A _pirouette_?" she offered and he shrugged. Ali laughed again and climbed to her feet, taking off her coat and laying it over the post; she pulled her feet into the correct position. "It looks like this." she began to demonstrate as Uncas, too, climbed to his feet. He looked anxious; as though he were afraid she'd fall in the water.

"_Uh_, you might not want to do that, this thing is wobbly." he tried to warn but she was already lifting her arms and extending onto her toes. Ideally, she meant to do a simple _Pirouette_, one with a single twirl before she discovered how wobbly the pier really was. The wood under her feet gave a shimmy and she found herself falling forward.

Uncas caught her before she could fall into the water and she fell heavily into his chest, laughing. One of his arms came around her as the other shot out against the post to keep them both from getting drenched.

"It's usually more graceful than…that…" she trailed off as she looked up into his face and found that they were very close together. If she leaned forward a few more inches she would be kissing him. She was suddenly very aware of his arm wrapped tightly around her waist and the solidness of his chest under her hands. She was aware of their intimate closeness as the water lapped gently against the pier.

Her mouth was dry as they stared at each other, holding their breath, like each was waiting for the other to make the first move. Neither did, and clearing her throat, Ali gently disentangled herself from his arm.

"I should _uh_…probably get you home." Uncas stammered, running a hand back through his hair. Ali smiled back at him nervously and nodded, telling him she needed to go to bed as she had to work in the morning.

He drove her back the apartment and they sat in silence the entire way, feeling nervous with each other. Ali wondered what would have happened if she had kissed him or allowed him to kiss her, which was an odd thought to have as they had just met. When Uncas pulled up in front of her apartment building she smiled over at him warmly.

"Thank you for taking me out there tonight, it was beautiful." she told him as she opened her door. "I hope we can go back again sometime."

"How about tomorrow? he blurted out. Ali turned back to see an embarrassed flush cross his cheeks. He probably hadn't intended to sound _that_ enthusiastic.

"I have to dance until eight again, if you don't mind waiting again." she told him as she pulled her duffle bag from the truck bed and slung it over one shoulder.

"I don't." he responded with a grin.

"Well, then its date." Ali told him happily before practically dancing her way to the door. She went to bed that night feeling warm and happy, hoping he would come to the diner in the morning just so she could see him that much sooner.

The rest of the week fell into a routine for Uncas and Ali, one they didn't intend but which happened anyway. The very next night, he came to the diner when her shift ended and drove her to rehearsal. When rehearsal was over, they drove out to the lake and talked for several hours about everything. She talked about her boring British form school and he talked about high school on the reservation.

The next night, after he picked her up from rehearsal once again, they went to a local coffee shop and talked some more, this time about movies and music. The following night found them walking along the streets of the city of Easton together, which was decorated with pastel rabbits and eggs for the coming of Easter. Ali stopped in front of one of the stores fronts that sported a rather worse for wear stuffed rabbit in a threadbare basket and laughed.

"Now, who would want to give that to a child?" she asked incredulously. "It's ghastly."

Uncas looked at the display and chuckled, reaching out absentmindedly for her hand. She interlaced her fingers with his and was happy to note he didn't drop her hand nervously.

"Well, if all you can afford is 'nightmare bunny' there, I guess you take what you can get." He laughed and pulled her gently down the street. They walked along making jokes about 'nightmare bunny' for a while before she pulled his hand up in front of them.

"Alright, explain these hands to me." she asked and he blinked before raising an eyebrow at her.

"They're hands, they do hand things..what..?" Ali laughed out loud at his confused grin and tried again.

"No, your palms," she clarified as she unlocked her hand from his and turned it palm up "you have the roughest hands in the free world but the backs are perfectly smooth. How does that happen?"

"Oh, that," he laughed and re-laced their fingers as they walked. "Not much to tell there. I'm a firefighter on the reservation so they get pretty calloused from that. Wood carving scarred up the rest."

"You do wood carvings?" she asked, interested. Uncas nodded.

"Blackfoot themed stuff mostly, also I paint."

"Well, you just get more interesting by the minute." Ali said with a smile and he chuckled.

The next night they found themselves back by the lake, but this time there was no awkward distance like the first time they had come out. This time they sat with his arm around her shoulder and her head against his neck, their fingers playing around each other, as they talked about the awful move they had just seen. Since they had the same day off that week, they had spent it together. Ali couldn't think of a better way to end the day than to talk about Russell Crowe's horrendous singing.

"I mean _I'm_ bad," Uncas was joking "I can clear out a room with my awful singing but that was just…what _was_ that?"

"I don't know." Ali agreed, chucking. "You would have thought he could've put some emotion into his whole 'vendetta', wouldn't you."

"I know, right!" Uncas agreed, turning to plant a kiss on her head without thinking about it. They both looked at each other in surprise after his lips pressed into her hairline and the amiable conversation halted as they stared at one another.

It felt odd to Ali that she had spent nearly every evening with him this week but they had yet to kiss. They had held hands, they had snuggled up together in the theatre and here by the river but aside from the kiss he had just laid on her hair, they had never tried the real thing. Uncas seemed to realize the same thing as they took each other in from that short distance.

He brought the hand up, that wasn't holding hers, to trace her cheek and she smiled at him softly, waiting. It was one of those moments where you know it's going to happen but you don't know how quickly. He studied her face as though he would memorize it and then he leaned forward to cover her mouth with his.

Ali breathed in sharply and felt her hands come up to grasp his face and pull him in closer. She felt the tentative brush of his tongue against her lips and she opened for him, drinking him in and wrapping her arms around his neck. It was like a match being held to dry brush. One moment the kiss was chaste and tender and the next she was molded against him with their tongues doing a desperate dance. Who knows how far it would have gone if a voice hadn't sounded behind them like a bugle.

"What the hell are you doing, Ade?!"

They pulled apart abruptly, looking over for the source of the voice. They had been so engrossed in the kiss that they hadn't even heard the car pull up. Standing at the opposite end of the pier was a very angry Paul, with his friend peeking curiously out the van parked in the road. Ali froze in Uncas arms, surprised by Paul's appearance and confused by his anger.

"What does it look like I'm doing?" Uncas responded sarcastically. He gently disentangled himself from Ali and climbed to his feet, moving in front of her. "Would you leave so I can get back to it, please?"

They began arguing in another language that Ali couldn't understand. Paul was firing off what sounded like questions at Uncas and he was answering them coldly. She, too, climbed to her feet as Uncas was making his way back down the pier toward Paul, becoming angrier and angrier as he went.

"Why do you care?" Uncas fired at him, switching back to English. "You date plenty of white girls, why does it bother you that I'm doing the same?"

"Because I don't bring them home with me!" his cousin shouted.

Ali rocked back a step, suddenly realizing the problem. Paul was mad at Uncas because he had brought her onto the reservation, for some reason that was unclear to her, he didn't want her here.

"There's no law against it Paul, if it bothers you go elsewhere." Uncas snapped back at him.

They began arguing again in that other language that she couldn't understand. Judging from the looks they were shooting in her direction, the argument was about her. She watched it with stunned eyes for a minute before setting her jaw and stomping over to them.

"If you're going to argue about me at least do it in a language I can understand." Ali snapped at both of them, getting between the men who were about to come to blows. She glared up into Paul's irrationally angry face as he put a cigarette between his lips and lit it.

"Just leave, Mr. Blackstone." she told him coldly. "You've said your piece, now go."

Paul took a drag on the cigarette and blew the smoke into her face. Ali stiffened as the smoke invaded her air passages, slowly setting off an asthma attack.

"You're on my reservation, remember?" he responded as Ali began to cough, the wheeze beginning in her chest. She stumbled away from both of them and back toward her purse, which was lying on the dock. She heard a 'What the fucks wrong with her?' from Paul and a worried 'Ali?' from Uncas.

Ali fell to her knees, desperately trying to pull air through her closing air passages. she dug into the bag for her inhaler. Not being able to find it, and becoming desperate, she turned the bag over on the pier to shake it loose. She could hear Uncas footfalls hurrying back down the pier as she gasped, tears filled her eyes as she drew in only a little air at a time. He fell to his knees next to her as the contents bounced out onto the wood.

"Ali, what's wrong?" he asked worriedly.

"Inhaler…"she choked out, running her hands through the items, desperately searching, trying to remember if she took it out for some reason. "Inhaler…"

Suddenly her hands closed around it but the pier gave a wobble as Paul stepped out onto it and the inhaler fell as she was bringing it to her lips. It bounced and rolled, falling over the edge and into the water. She tried to scramble after it as Uncas grabbed her around the waist to keep her from falling in.

Ali sagged against the wood then, now just focusing on slowing her breathing and not panicking. Uncas turned her over to look into her face as she wheezed and tried to communicate with her eyes that she needed help.

"Can't..breathe…" she tried to tell him but the words just came out as wheezing.

"What the fuck is going on?" Paul asked, still sounding angry but with an undercurrent of concern peeking through.

"I don't know," Uncas answered as he hauled Ali to her feet and the pier wobbled again. "I think it's an asthma attack, help me get her to the car?"

Paul got Ali's arm around his neck and together the two men got her back onto solid ground. Together they half dragged, half carried her to the car and Paul helped Uncas load her into the passenger side. Uncas was fastening her seat belt and she caught his eyes, gasping. She tried to tell him with her eyes what was happening.

"Where will you take her, the hospital is ten miles away?" Ali heard Paul asking.

"I'll take her to _Hurit's_ clinic." Uncas answered as he turned the key in the ignition. Their voices were growing fainter; the lack of air was going to her head. She was dangerously close to passing out.

"Let your dad know what's going on!" Ali felt the car pull out; she heard the screech of his tires on the pavement once they were back on the main road. Ali felt his hand reaching out to grasp hers, felt his fingers tighten.

"Stay with me, baby." she heard his voice saying.

'I'm trying…' she thought as the world turned white.

"Ali!" she heard his voice say loudly.

Then her head slumped against the window and he went away.

Author's note:

(Sorry this took so long to get posted guys. The baby slept long enough but I had to leave straight from the house when he woke up to take my mom to pick up her car. Since no one wants to read my poorly edited, badly misspelled first write through, I figured I'd straighten it up first ^^

This scene changed quite a bit from what it was supposed to be. It originally took place in town (around the studio), Paul and the boys were kinda rough housing with Alice and shoving her about, and THEN Uncas was gonna show up and the scene would go as you read.

I like this better, especially in terms of Paul. He was originally going to grab her purse and toss stuff out of it looking for her phone (he was gonna try to call Cora, this was back in his creepy, stalker stage) and that was how the inhaler was supposed to get lost. I just don't see him being that mean. He isn't happy that Uncas brought her to the reservation but he's not going to go out of his way to hurt her. He wouldn't have hurt her in the diner if he had known her wrist was injured. He's a hard ass like his dad, he can be a bully but I don't think he goes out of his way to attack women.

We're in the honeymoon phase of their relationship right now, it the unicorns and rainbows period. I'm going to let them enjoy it a little bit longer before we start getting into the more complicated stuff (which is about the halfway point of the story). Like I said yesterday, I have no idea how long this will end up being. XD)


	7. Chapter 7

"Ali!" Uncas said loudly, giving her hand a shake. He glanced over in time to see her head slump against the window. "Fuck!" he cursed, reaching his hand up to her nose to see if any air was making its way out. There was some, but not a lot, and that terrible, rattling wheeze was still coming from her chest.

Uncas pushed his foot down on the gas pedal and burned the tires as he screeched into the parking lot of _Hurit's _Clinic. He reached over to undo Alice's seat belt before hopping out of his truck and yelling Hurit's name as loudly as he could. Uncas yanked open the passenger side door and gingerly pulled Ali out, cradling her in his arms like a child.

"C'mon, baby," he murmured as he adjusted her weight against him, she felt like she barely weighed anything "I got you. HURIT!"

He was just carrying her around the truck when a figure skidded into the doorway of the clinic. He caught sight of a long black braid whipping over a dark shoulder as the figure pushed open the glass door and stuck her head out.

"Sinopa?" Uncas called, surprised. He hadn't seen Sinopa in over a year, was she finished with Medical School already?

"Uncas?" she called back, equally surprised before she took note of Ali.

"What's going on, who is that?" Sinopa asked urgently. Uncas carried Alice over to the building and climbed the short set of stairs that would take him to the front door. Sinopa held the door open for him and he turned sideways to make it past her.

"Her name is Alice; I think she's having an asthma attack. Her Inhaler fell in the lake." Uncas explained quickly. Sinopa darted around him to hold open the door leading into the back; Uncas followed her as swiftly as he could.

"Is your mother still here?" he asked as Sinopa gestured him over to an examination table. He laid Alice onto it as the other girl pushed him out of the way.

"No, it's her day off. I'm the only doctor in residence tonight." she explained as she lifted Alice's eyelid to look at her pupil. "How long has she been unconscious?"

"Only a few minutes, are you licensed now?" he asked more skeptically than he intended. Sinopa was moving around the room rapidly, picking up a stethoscope from the doctor coat hanging on the back of the door.

"Would I be attempting to treat her if I wasn't?" she asked him with a slightly offended frown.

"Sorry." Uncas said, throwing his hands up. "Just making sure."

Sinopa shook her head and made a face at him as she pressed the ear of the stethoscope to Alice's chest and listened; she made an unhappy noise in her throat and frowned more deeply.

"Not much air getting through, no wonder she passed out." The dark girl said to herself as she walked over to one of the cabinets and grabbed a syringe and a small vial of clear liquid. "Do you know what brought it on?"

"No, she got between Paul and I during an argument but I don't…." he trailed off thinking then remembered the cigarette smoke. "He blew smoke into her face."

"_Hmph_, that'll do it. Cigarette smoke can by kryptonite for someone with asthma as severe as her's sounds." Sinopa said as she pulled a cotton ball and some antiseptic from a drawer. The tall, dark haired Blackfoot girl truly did not look like a doctor at that moment. She was dressed in a t-shirt and jeans, with flip flops on her feet. Her mother would probably have scolded her for her lack of professionalism.

Uncas had known Sinopa as 'Hadley' when they were in High school, before she had earned her Tribal name. She had been just as 'anti-conformity' back then as she was now. Sinopa was also the first girl he had ever been with intimately, though that was a long time ago. She had steered him around the rough edges when it came to sex. He still felt a little embarrassed when he thought about what they got up to in the locker room after school. Sinopa pulled up Alice's sleeve and cleaned her arm with the antispetic before jabbing the needle into the top of the little vial she held in her hand, measuring out whatever was inside.

"What are you giving her?" Uncas asked as she ejected the excess fluid from the needle tip and tapped Alice's arm to find a vein.

"Corticosteroids." The girl answered as she inserted the meds into Ali's arm. "It'll reduce the inflammation of the airways; make her able to breathe better."

"How long will it take to work?" Uncas asked worriedly. Sinopa looked at her watch and took Ali's pulse. It felt like it took forever for Sinopa to answer him.

"_Oohhhhhh_, not too long, about…" Ali let out a little gasp, her eyes flying open as she took in breath after breath "now." Sinopa finished, grinning at him.

Uncas walked over to the table and took Ali's hand in his as stress tears ran down her cheeks. She shut her eyes as she concentrated on breathing. Her head fell back against the table, as her chest rose and fell rapidly. Slowly, she got her breathing under control and then opened bleary blue eyes to look around the room.

"Where am I?" she asked, her voice raspy.

"A clinic on the reservation." Uncas explained as she swung her eyes back to him. "You had a pretty bad attack back there. Sinopa gave you something to make you breathe."

"Sinopa?" Ali repeated, her eyebrows coming together in confusion, she turned her head to look at the dark girl who watched them while leaning against a counter.

"Hi." Sinopa said with a friendly wave. Ali nodded her head at her before turning her eyes back up to Uncas.

"That stuff I gave her is pretty strong so she's probably going to fall asleep here in a bit." Sinopa told him. Ali blinked a few times, looking like she was trying to remember something.

"My inhaler?" she mumbled, her eyebrows still drawn together in confusion.

"We'll give you a new one." Sinopa answered for him.

Alice frowned and then looked apologetically up at Uncas. He kept searching her face for signs that she was truly alright. Thankfully, she just looked drowsy.

"Did I ruin our date?" she whispered. Uncas laughed and kissed her forehead.

"Naw, you just made it a little more interesting." he reassured her.

"We'll blame it on Russell Crowe." she joked sleepily and closed her eyes, Uncas laughed again. Her breathing evened out a few seconds later and he realized she had gone to sleep, just as Sinopa said she would. When he looked up at his old classmate, her eyebrows were raised and she was smiling.

"Russell Crowe?" she queried. "The actor?"

Uncas chuckled and shook his head.

"It's an involved explanation," he told her "just go see the '_Les Mis_' movie, then you'll understand."

"_You_ went to see a musical?" Sinopa asked dubiously.

"She wanted to see it." he answered with a shrug as the dark girl gave him a knowing half smile.

"You _liiiiike_ her." she drawled, teasing him. Uncas rolled his eyes and laid Ali's hand back on the table.

"What are you, twelve?" He asked sarcastically but smiled despite the words.

"Hey, I had you first and you never took _me_ to any musicals." she reminded him with a mock pout as she walked by him toward the door leading back to the waiting room.

"_Uh_, as I remember we didn't exactly 'date'." Uncas reminded her, making air quotes with his fingers and following behind her. "Having sex in the locker rooms doesn't constitute a relationship."

"_Ah_, remember that, do you?" Sinopa smirked as she reached into a drawer for some paper work. "And to think I believed you were still carrying a torch for me?"

Uncas laughed and Sinopa grinned at him. This had been their relationship for as long as he could remember, good natured ribbing. They had been each other's sexual experiment back in the day but that was ultimately all it was. Sinopa discovered in College that she preferred female company to male and what happened in the locker room got to stay there.

"Here, fill these out with the information you know and bring her back tomorrow for the rest. I'm gonna make up a chart for her real quick." The dark haired girl commanded as she leaned under the desk to pull out a manila file folder.

"I assume your uncle was told about this?" she asked, pointing into the examination room to Alice. Uncas nodded as he headed for the door to get Alice's purse from the truck so that he could fill out the personal and insurance information. When he returned, Sinopa was leaning over the open folder and filling in notes for how she treated Alice.

"You realize he's gonna be pissed, right?" Sinopa continued without looking up at him while he dug in Ali's bag for her wallet.

"Isn't he usually?" Uncas countered as he found Al_i's_ wallet and pulled out the driver's license. He began to fill in the information that was accessible on the piece of plastic.

"Does he know you're dating a white girl?" Sinopa asked him, raising her eyes from the file.

"No." Uncas answered quietly.

They continued filling out the paper work when a car door slammed outside. Uncas was just writing down what he could from Ali's insurance card when Magua came in the front door with Paul following along behind them.

"What happened?" Magua demanded when he saw them. He was trying to see around his nephew to look at Ali who was sleeping in the examine room. "How bad is it?"

"Relax, _Aahsa,_" Uncas said reassuringly. "It's ok. She just had an asthma attack. Sinopa treated her, she's fine."

"Jesus, Ade, what were you thinking bringing her _here_ if she has asthma that bad?" his uncle demanded, shooting him the 'are you stupid?' glare.

"Ok, first off I didn't know." Uncas told him with a pointed look. "Second, it was your son's damn cigarette smoke that set it off, not an allergy to the environment."

Paul actually had the decency to look guilty. He ducked his head and shoved his hands in his pants pockets.

"Fine." Magua relented coldly, finally starting to relax by minute degrees. He was probably still worried about the reservation getting sued because the asthma attack happened on Blackfoot land.

"Can I get a statement from her at least?"

"You'll have to get it tomorrow." Sinopa interrupted, turning her eyes up to the older man who jumped a little, as if just realizing she was there. "The Corticosteroid is gonna keep her pretty drowsy for the next twelve hours or so. You'll have to bring her back for a follow up tomorrow, Uncas."

"Can't she just see one of the white doctors and be done with it?" Magua practically whined. He hated the red tape he had to cut through when anything happened to a white person on reservation land. Sinopa snapped the folder shut and straightened, piercing him with her no nonsense stare.

"She's _my_ patient, Magua Blackstone," the girl reminded him firmly "She'll be released from _my_ care when I've ascertained that the asthma is under control."

Magua and Sinopa had a silent battle of wills that he ended up losing. The older man heaved a sigh and folded his arms over his chest, nodding. Sinopa stared at him a few seconds more before swinging her gaze back to Uncas.

"If you've finished filling out those forms we can hold them until tomorrow. She can finish them when you bring her back in. I suggest she stay with you tonight unless there's someone that can keep an eye on her for the next twelve hours." The girl told him.

Uncas thought about her alcoholic father slumped against the side of their apartment building and set his jaw. There was no way in _hell_ he trusted that man to keep an eye on her. It looked like she was coming home with him tonight.

"I'll take care of her." he reassured Sinopa who gave a nod before walking to the back to retrieve some medication and a new inhaler. She came back out with the items and put them in a white bag.

"I'm sending a Corticosteroid in pill form with you in case her airways start to get inflamed again. Bring her back in the morning so we can finish up this chart." Sinopa explained and he nodded. He walked past her to the examine room and lifted Ali off the table. She mumbled something in her sleep as he carried her out of the room. Magua frowned deeply as he took in the pale girl slumped against Uncas shoulder.

Uncas stared at his uncle until Sinopa brought the medicine bag over and laid it On Ali's lap. They shared a knowing look before he moved past Magua and Paul, and carried her outside. He heard footfalls behind him and looked over his shoulder to see Paul hurrying after him.

"Ade!" his cousin called, Uncas turned back to look at him. Paul rubbed the back of his neck nervously and fidgeted. "Look, I didn't mean to cause her asthma attack. I didn't even know…I wouldn't have…" he was stammering the more he tried to apologize.

"It alright, Paul." Uncas interrupted, saving the man from himself. "It was an accident."

He started to walk away again and Paul's voice stopped him again.

"You should still end it, whatever it is between you. It'll never work, Ade." Paul's voice was kinder than it had been at the lake, when he had lined him up for bringing an outside onto the reservation. Uncas shook his head and kept walking for the truck; Paul helpfully opened the door for him so he could settle Ali into the passenger seat and buckle her in. Once she was situated and the door was shut, Paul continued his speech.

"I'm saying this for _your_ benefit." he told Uncas seriously. "They never understand how things work here; end it before you hurt her."

"I'm not _you_." Uncas responded quietly as he walked back around the car and pulled open his door. "I don't date women just to toss them aside."

"That's _why_ I'm telling you this," Paul called out "So that you don't hurt her like _I _did the others."

Those words made Uncas turn to look at his cousin. He had never heard Paul express remorse for anything until this moment. His voice sounded uncharacteristically contrite. Pau shoved his hands back in his pockets and faced Uncas with his head down.

"Look, I'm not the world's greatest guy, alright?" he began softly. "I get mad and I do stupid things but that doesn't mean that I don't want the same things as everyone else. _That_ world," He pointed in the direction of town "doesn't want us. Its naivety to think we can exist in it or it can exist with us."

Uncas studied his cousin's surprisingly honest face and sighed inwardly. Those were his father's words and lessons coming out of Paul's mouth. Still, it was interesting to learn that he had, perhaps, _not_ meant to hurt those white women out of a bullying instinct, but more out of an inability to understand them.

"We gotta at least try, right?" Uncas responded, giving his cousin a ghost of a smile. Paul managed to return it before Uncas climbed in and closed the door, pulling out of the clinic driveway.

Once he parked in front of his father's cabin he went to unlock the front door before lifting Ali down from the truck. She mumbled his name and he shushed her as he carried her into the house and down the hallway to his room.

Once he was in the doorway, he used his elbow to turn on the light and laid her out on the comforter. He pulled off her shoes and carried them back to the door before returning to remove her coat, which he hung in the hall closet. Once that was achieved, he went to the kitchen and filled a glass with water. He carried it back to his room and laid it on the nightstand. He picked up the med bag and removed the inhaler, laying it next to the glass of water. The pills he took to the medicine cabinet in the bathroom.

Once all that was done he returned to the room long enough to pull the covers up around Alice, who had curled on her side with her hand pulled up under her chin like a sleeping child. He pushed some fallen hair out of her face and kissed her cheek before whispering "Sleep well, swan-girl" into her ear. He pulled a night shirt and some boxers from a drawer before walking across the hall to the bathroom and taking a shower.

He made himself a bed on the couch and lay there in the dark, staring up at the ceiling. He thought about what Paul said to him in the parking lot, mulling over the words.

_Its naivety to think we can exist in it or it can exist with us._

He didn't feel that way when it came to Ali. She hadn't asked anything of him that he wasn't prepared to give, though they had only been going out for a week. Just because it never worked out for Paul, didn't mean that it wouldn't work out for he and Ali. Really, his family was jumping the gun about their relationship. They were just enjoying each other's company, what was wrong with that?

He rolled over and closed his eyes. He thought about kissing Ali by the lake, the burst of flame that had erupted between them when she had opened her mouth for his tongue. That was a scenario he would like to revisit sometime soon. He went to sleep with _that_ happy thought still dancing in his mind.

Authors note:

(Another day with a late update; I had to leave the house right after the baby woke up again so that's why it's going up now vs one o'clock in the afternoon.

So I've introduced a new character here; Sinopa. I don't know how much more of her we'll see as the story goes on but I ended up really liking her. Somewhere along the line it occurred to me that Uncas isn't a virgin (he's been with someone somewhere down the line) and this other character just stepped forward with her hand raised and was like 'it was me!'XD

Also I'm ripping on Russell Crowe a lot these last two chapters. Anyone that's seen the Les Mis movie will understand why. He put about as much emotion into that role as I would into picking up a gallon of milk from the store. If you like Russell Crowe's singing then sorry…I was just…not a fan.)


	8. Chapter 8

Ali jolted awake when she heard a harsh pounding on the front door. She lifted her head from the pillow and sat upright, looking around the unfamiliar room in confusion. It wasn't very big and it obviously was _not_ hers. The bed took up a good portion of the room and the walls were sparsely decorated. The entire feeling about the room was a distinctly Native American one.

"Hold on a minute, I'm coming!" she heard Uncas shout from behind the closed door.

So this was his room then, had she been here all night? Ali swung her legs over the side of the bed and pushed her disheveled hair out of her face before rubbing her eyes. What time was it? She blinked over at the glowing alarm clock, sitting behind a glass of water on the nightstand, and it read 7 am. She heard the sound of a door opening, probably the front door, and then closing as someone went outside.

Curious, she got to her feet and peeked out into the dimly lit hallway. There wasn't much of interest in the hall, a few family photos on the wall depicting a young Uncas and Nate, hanging off the arm of the man who must have been their father. Another showed a smiling native woman, their mother perhaps? Ali plodded out into the hallway and came out into a wider living room or den; also simply decorated, just a couch with a makeshift bed on it and a small television in the corner.

Turning around she found a small kitchen and beyond that was…a studio? Curious, she walked toward the patio converted to breakfast nook, converted to studio and gasped at what she found there. It was decorated with all manner of art supplies ranging from easels, to paints, to carving tools, but this was not what surprised her. What surprised her were the beautifully carved and polished animals sitting along the shelves. The detail put into them was extraordinary; they looked like they could start moving at any moment. She walked over to carefully touch the ears of a fox carving when a series of paintings drew her eyes off to her left.

They were all brightly colored. Most were abstract pictures of birds or other animals but one in particular drew her over. She was staring at a painting of herself but it had such an ephemeral quality to it that she felt like it _couldn't_ be her.

'Is this how he sees me?' she thought to herself.

He had drawn her looking off into the distance with a thoughtful expression. In the background was the lake he had taken her to several times already and, on the lake, sat a swan. She marveled at the detail he had put into her hair and face, the soft brush strokes on the swan's neck. Uncas had told her was an artist but he hadn't told her he was _this_ good. These painting and carvings were things one expected to see in galleries or museums, not stuffed into a corner of the house.

Ali was reaching out to touch the painting he had done of her when the door opened again. She jumped back, feeling guilty for being in the studio and looked over to see Uncas walking in with an older Indian man following behind. This other man wore a pinched and grim expression. His eyes, when they came to rest of Ali where not overly welcoming.

"Hey, you're up." Uncas greeted as he walked over to lay a kiss on the top of her head. "Feeling better?"

"Yes," she answered quickly, flushing when the man's face hardened over Uncas impromptu show of affection "Yes, much better, thank you."

"Good." he said with relief before putting an arm around her shoulder and indicating the man who stood rigidly in the living room. "Ali this is my uncle, Magua. He needs to get a statement from you about what happened last night."

"A statement?" she repeated. "I had an asthma attack, what…?"

"When any non-resident sees a doctor on the reservation we have to take a statement and file a report," Magua explained firmly "for legal purposes."

"Oh." Ali answered softly. "Well, there not much to tell. I had an asthma attack by the lake, I passed out. I woke up briefly in a clinic and again here. I don't remember much of the in between."

"I see." he answered tightly. Magua frowned and pulled a piece of paper out of his coat pocket, laying it on the coffee table with a slap. "Then you won't mind signing an affidavit releasing the reservation from any legal and financial obligation."

"Jesus, _Aahsa_," Uncas scoffed as Ali gaped at the man in surprise "seriously?"

"You're concerned that I'm going to sue you?" she asked slowly. Magua stared at her with that same grim expression.

"It's just a legal formality." was his only answer.

"Not every white person is out to screw the reservation, _Aahsa_." Uncas argued as Ali walked over to read whatever it was he wanted her to sign.

"You know the rules, Ade." his uncle said back harshly. "We wouldn't have to do this if you had just taken her to a white hospital in the first place."

"For the love of-she was barely breathing!" Uncas argued back, voice rising in anger.

"It's alright, Uncas," Ali told him reassuringly after she had read the fairly straightforward legal document "I'll sign it, its fine."

"Do you have a pen?" she asked the other man politely. He handed her one from his jacket pocket and she saw some of the tension leave his shoulders as she signed her name to the affidavit. He was probably just relieved she didn't fight him on it.

"I couldn't have sued even if I wanted to," Ali told Magua quietly. "I don't have very much money."

"Yeah, well, the reservation has to be careful. People have sued over less." he explained as he pocketed the document. "I assume you're about to leave?"

"_Aahsa!_" Uncas snapped, shooting him the 'why are you being a dick' glare.

"Well, I have to be at work in an hour and a half so, yes, I suppose I am." she told him, surprised at how much he seemed to _want _her off the reservation. He nodded to her curtly before turning his cold eyes back to his nephew.

"Well, I expect my _nephew_ will see you to wherever you have to go. Good day to you." Magua said tersely as he turned on his heel and headed for the door. He shot one more warning look at Uncas before he walked out and let the door close behind him.

"I'm sorry about him." Uncas apologized as he stomped into the kitchen and banged around while filling a coffee carafe with water. "He doesn't like outsiders, if you couldn't tell."

"Yeah, I picked up on that." Ali said, pulling out a stool next to the counter and sitting on it. "I'm just glad it's not _me_ he solely detests."

"It's not. You should see him when field trips come onto the reservation. It makes him a nervous wreck." Uncas laughed as he put some coffee into the coffee maker and turned it on. Ali giggled and then gave him an apologetic smile.

"I'm sorry if I got you into trouble with him."

"It's nothing new." Uncas said with a shrug before changing the subject. "Once you get some coffee in you, I'll run you to the clinic so Sinopa can release you from her care and then I'll take you to work."

"Sinopa's the girl from last night?" Ali asked, barely able to recall her face. Uncas nodded.

They drank their coffee and Alice brushed her teeth with a new tooth brush Uncas found for her in a drawer. She made herself as presentable as possible before Uncas drove her over to the clinic. They walked in to see an older woman sitting behind the desk, staring at a file. Her grey hair was pulled back in a long braid that fell down her back.

"Morning, Hurit." Uncas greeted, genially, when they stepped into the waiting area. Hurit looked up at him with the same tight expression Magua had worn earlier. Her gaze went to Ali, studied her for a minute, and disregarded her before retuning to what she had been looking over when they walked in.

"Uncas." Hurit greeted flatly.

"Sinopa in yet?" Uncas asked, looking a little uncomfortable with the older woman's dismissive attitude. Hurit straightened in her chair and pulled her mouth into a hard line before yelling something into the back room that Alice didn't understand. There was a response that was just as terse before a younger version of Hurit appeared in the doorway.

"Hey, she's alive." the girl quipped with a welcoming grin. Hurit's face tightened at the very un-doctor like greeting and she said something chastising to the girl in that musical other language. The girl that could only be Sinopa rolled her eyes and shot the woman a harassed look.

"I'm wearing the damn coat, aren't I? she argued back, gesturing at the white doctors coat. Hurit glared at her but said nothing else as Sinopa gestured for them to come on back.

She sat Alice down on an examination table and looked in her eyes, listened to her breathing and heartbeat and took her pulse. Alice stared at the girl more unabashedly than she should have but she couldn't help it. Sinopa was perhaps the most gorgeous woman Alice had ever seen. She was tall like Uncas with dark skin and hair that she wore in the same braid as the woman outside. Her eyes were a light brown, like caramel and she had full, pouty lips that were almost impossible not to stare at.

"Any more problems last night?" she asked as she made Alice follow her moving finger with her eyes.

"Not that I remember." Alice responded.

"Nothing more to blame on Russell?" the beautiful girl joked, grinning. Ali laughed and covered her face with one hand.

"Oh god, I did say that didn't I?" she asked, embarrassed. Sinopa stood back and grinned down at her.

"Don't be embarrassed about getting _that_ one," she pointed at Uncas "to see a musical. You did the impossible." The girl teased and Uncas shook his head, folding his arms over his chest but still smiling nonetheless. "God knows I used to try."

"You two dated?" Ali asked, looking between them and suddenly feeling impossibly inferior next to the dark haired beauty.

"If you can call it that." Sinopa answered, laughing as she turned to make a note in the chart. When she was done she turned back to Alice and folded her hands in front of her.

"Well, last night's episode aside, you appear to be in perfect health. I would recommend taking the day off if you can though, the corticosteroids can make you feel a little sick.

"I'm a waitress at a small diner; there aren't a lot of us to go around." Alice offered meekly. Sinopa tapped her chin with the pencil and then turned to fill out another form. She scribbled quickly, ripped it off the pad and handed it to Alice.

"This is a doctor's note indicating you should be released from work today." she explained. "If they have any questions they can call and talk to me."

"You don't have to do that." Alice said quietly, taking the note from her.

"I know. You're welcome." Sinopa smiled and then opened the door and ushered them out. Hurit was no longer sitting at the desk and the other exam room door was closed. Sinopa silently handed Alice the paper work from the night before that she needed to finish filling out. Once that task was accomplished, Alice went outside to call the diner and let them know what was going on.

It turned out that she didn't even need the doctor's note, John was more than understanding about the situation. He sounded more worried about her than he did about the fact that she was missing work. Ali was touched by that, she had really lucked out in the 'understanding employers' department. She was just closing her phone when Uncas came out to see if she was ready to go. When they were back in the car he made his way back toward his father's cabin.

"The older people really don't like my being here, do they?" Ali asked, thinking about Hurit's complete dismissal of her when they walked into the clinic.

"There are some pretentious people here." Uncas shrugged. "Don't pay any attention to it."

"Sinopa is… nice." Ali commented lamely. Uncas didn't miss the slightly sullen undertone in her voice.

"You're not feeling raw about the dating comment are you?" he asked, looking over at her. "It was a million years ago, we were sixteen."

"Well, she's gorgeous." Ali answered honestly. "Who wouldn't be intimidated by that?"

Uncas laughed and reached over to take her hand with his free one.

"Ali, whatever it was we had as teenagers is long over, "he reassured her, smiling "_You_ have a better chance with Sinopa at this point that I do."

"You mean she's-"

"Yep, for a couple of years now." he told her, making the turn into the driveway. Alice sat back in the seat, stunned. She wasn't stunned so much _because_ the pretty doctor was a lesbian but more because it was the last thing she expected to hear at _that_ moment. That might explain all the harsh looks Hurit was shooting her.

Once they were back in the house, Alice took a shower and felt immensely better. Once she was back in her clothes she walked back into the living room to find Uncas pulling on some boots.

"I have to get out to the training grounds for a couple of hours; will you be ok on your own?" He asked as he laced up the boots.

"I think so; I should try to get some dancing in if I'm not going to work."

"Well, I don't think we have much in the way of classical music but you're welcome to look over the C.D.'s" he said as he pointed to a shelf on the wall near the studio. "I'll be back in a couple of hours."

"I saw your painting earlier." Ali revealed, a little embarrassed that she had been nosey. "They're very good; you could probably make decent money if you showcased them at a gallery."

She was surprised when his face clouded over at the compliment and wondered if she had said something wrong. He didn't say anything as he pulled on his jacket and dug into the pockets of his jacket for his car keys.

"I'm sorry, should I not have said that?" she asked confused. He looked up at her a little surprised then smiled the take the sting out of his lack of response.

"It's fine, I just _uh_…don't do well with people outside the reservation sometimes and the galleries, well, they're not much interested in reservation art." Uncas explained, pulling his hair out of the back of the jacket. Ali smiled at him and walked over.

"Well, you do fine with me." she smiled up at him.

"You," he said as he pulled her in against him, she gave a little surprised gasp "are different. I'm not dating the rest of the world."

"Oh, is that what we're doing?" she teased, standing on her tiptoes and placing her hands on his chest. "And here I thought all we had in common was a loathing for Russell's singing."

"Ok, we do have that," he laughed loudly before leaning down to say "and this."

He kissed her and she forgot what she had be about to do. It was like the kiss at the lake, before Paul had so rudely interrupted them and she practically wrapped herself around him like a second skin. It was a good thing he pulled back from it when he did, because if it went any father they were going to have sex in the middle of the living room floor. As exciting as that thought was, Ail wasn't quite ready to go _that_ far.

"Yeah, we're pretty good at that." She agreed a little breathlessly. Uncas headed for the door chuckling and Ali stood in the middle of the living room, staring at the closed door until she heard his car pull away. She was trying to remember how her feet were supposed to work. Finally, she shook herself and went into the kitchen to see what she could throw together for breakfast.

Author's note:

(This section was going to be a lot longer and include a conversation with Nate but that's going to have to wait for the next chapter. I don't feel all that great today so what I thought I could get done and what I actually got done are two different things.

Someone asked in a review about Uncas Ex becoming a lesbian. One, I don't know that Sinopa is his only sexual encounter; she's just the only one he's owning to. Two, I don't think he made her a lesbian, she just discovered in College that she likes girls better. That happens sometimes. I had a friend that got married and stayed with the guy for eight years before finally admitting that she preferred girls. I think Sinopa likes Uncas, even back when tey were kinds but they just weren't compatible outside the bedroom.

I don't think I have too much more to say about this…Oh, that term Uncas keeps using for Magua is an all-encompassing word for male family members (not that anyone asked but I figured I should address that). Also, in terms of reservations in the real world, I have no idea how they actually function. I know most of them have their own government and function like their own little state but it's ridiculously hard to find out anything concrete about them on the internet.

Most reservations are very private about things like that. My aunt and Uncle were once thrown off of one in Nevada(they ended up on it by accident) and told if they hit any livestock with their car on the way out that they would sue the pants off them XD. So yeah, don't take most of what I write here for fact. I look up what I can and make up the rest.)


	9. Chapter 9

The fridge had just enough ingredients for Ali to make crepes but not the kind she _needed_ to make them the way they were intended. In lieu of proper ingredients, she had to settle for egg, garlic, hotdog, and some hot sauce. It wasn't a healthy breakfast by any stretch of the imagination but it did give her enough energy for dancing. As usual she made too much so she covered the remaining crepes and filling with saran wrap and put them back in the fridge. Uncas could eat them for breakfast the next day if he wanted to. She left her half eaten portion on the counter to go peruse the C.D.'s he had pointed out earlier.

Uncas was right, there wasn't much in the way of ballet music on the shelf but she did find the soundtrack to 'Somewhere in Time' hidden near the back. She wondered who it belonged to; she couldn't imagine either Uncas or Nate listening to it. Maybe it belonged to their mother? She put the C.D. into the small player on a side table and found the track she wanted. Assuming the right foot position, she began to dance.

Alice escaped into her own head once her body began to move. The room disappeared and became a wide expanse of lake with a line of trees going on forever on the other side of the water. Sunlight glowed along the surface, sparkling on the still lake. Most ballerinas did this when they danced; they became the music, the story. In her mind she was dancing toward something but she didn't know what it was yet. She knew it was something exciting, something she had waited for her whole life. If she just kept moving forward she would find it.

Ali spun slowly, lifting onto her toes and just happened to open her eyes. Standing in the hallway, staring at her, was Nate. She let out a yelp as the illusion she had created popped like a bubble and she fell onto her behind on the living room floor. Nate threw his hands up in an apologetic gesture.

"Sorry, sorry." he said as she blinked up at him, chest heaving in surprise. "You were really involved in what you were doing and I didn't want to startle you. Obviously, that plan failed."

He came forward and offered a hand to help her up. She took it and he pulled her to her feet. Once she was upright she went to the C.D player and opened it.

"I haven't heard that music in forever, for a minute I thought mom would be out here cleaning or something. Did you stay the night?" This last was asked with just a hint of implication.

"I didn't know anyone else was here." Ali said, not answering his question about whether she had stayed all night. She blushed as she pushed the C.D. back into its case.

"I just woke up." he explained, grinning as though he were proud of his brother.

"Oh, I'm sorry," she apologized, flushing "I wouldn't have played the music so loud if I knew you were here."

"It's ok; I needed to get up for work anyway." Nate stopped speaking and looked around, sniffing. "Did you cook?"

"Yeah, crepes." she answered as she took her hair down from its pony tail and shook it out "There's some on the counter that I didn't finish and more in the fridge if you want some."

Nate walked over to the counter and picked up her remaining crepe with his fingers. He took a bite and made such a face that, at first, she thought it was too spicy for him. She had put a little extra hot sauce in it because she liked the kick but it wasn't for everyone.

"You made this?" Nate asked, speaking around the food in his mouth.

"Yeah," Ali nodded "sorry if it's a little too hot, I don't scrimp on the hot sauce when I make them for just me." Nate shook his head and swallowed.

"That might be the best thing I've ever tasted in my life." he told her with amazement evident in his voice. "You said there's more?"

"In the fridge." she pointed. Nate walked over to it and pulled out the bowl of filling and plate of extra crepes, spooning the filling into one quickly. Alice walked over to rest on one of the stools as Nate took a bite out of the crepe he rolled up like a burrito.

"These are awesome!" he said again with a mouthful of food. "If Uncas doesn't marry you I will just so I can have these every day."

"Well, you'd be disappointed in the long term, I'm afraid. That's all I can make with any level of skill." Ali laughed. "Duncan taught me how to make those and I only had what was in the fridge. What you're eating isn't half as good as they would be if he made them."

"This is Heyward's recipe?" Nate asked, incredulously. Now it was Ali's turn to be surprised.

"You know Duncan?" she countered. Nate swallowed his food and looked a little guiltily at the counter.

"Well, saying I _know_ him isn't quite accurate. I…_uh_…kind of helped Paul mess with him a few months back."

Ali shot him a frown and he sighed, rubbing his head with his hands.

"It was a joke, I didn't know anything about you or your sister then." he told her in an attempt to defend himself. Ali crossed her arms over her chest.

"And what is it you _did_ exactly?" she demanded crossly.

"Ok, look," he began guiltily "I was just along for the ride. Paul was pissed that your sister dumped him for Heyward and wanted to get his pound of flesh. We went to the restaurant he worked at, made a stink about the food until he came out and…" he trailed off. Ali raised an eyebrow at him.

"And?" she prompted, waiting.

"We poured a two hundred dollar bottle of wine all over him." he finished sheepishly.

Ali stared at him hard for a few minutes then leaned forward to rest her arms on the counter. When she spoke again, her voice was hard and accusatory.

"You know he lost that job because of your little stunt, right?" she told him angrily. "It's part of the reason he left and part of why my sister left with him."

"It was a stupid joke-" Nate tried to argue but she silenced him with a glare. His arguments died in his throat. "If it's any consolation, I felt bad about it afterward."

"It's not." Ali sighed but sat up straighter and stopped glaring at him. "I suppose it doesn't matter much now. The damage is done."

They were quiet for a long time while Nate ate about half the plate of crepes and washed it down with some milk. He put the dish she had used first, and he had finished with, into the sink and squirted some soap over it. As he turned on the water he looked up at her.

"Look, I really am sorry." he said quietly.

"I'm not the one you need to apologize to, Mr. Blackstone." Ali responded. "They fired Duncan because they thought you were his friends playing a joke and he couldn't pay for that bottle of wine you wasted. He _needed_ that job."

Nate didn't say anything to that and Ali sighed heavily.

"Why do you let Paul get you into situations like that?" she asked him.

"He's my cousin." Nate answered lamely.

"Yes, he's also Uncas cousin, but I don't see _him_ running around getting strangers fired from jobs they need." she told him pointedly. Nate opened his mouth to respond but at that moment her phone rang. Alice shot him another hard look before walking over to her bag and reaching inside for it. She pulled it out but didn't recognize the number on the screen. Frowning in confusion, she flipped it open and put it to her ear.

"Hello?" she answered warily.

"Ali?" Cora's voice sounded far away, and Ali could make out the sounds of cars in the background.

"Cora?" she exclaimed and went into the studio area for some semblance of privacy. Ali heard Nate finished up in the kitchen and then he walk silently back to the hallway. A few minutes later she heard the bathroom door shut and the shower turn on. "Where are you?"

"In the 'middle of nowhere', Texas." Cora answered with a laugh. "I just managed to search out a payphone."

"How are you, how's Duncan?" Alice asked, beyond happy to hear her sister's voice.

"Good, we're good," Cora reassured her. "Duncan found work as a Sous Chef at a restaurant in town, we just found an apartment. What about you, Ali, how are things with papa?"

"Oh, much the same." Ali sighed. "He's drunk most of the time now."

"I shouldn't have let you stay there; I should have made you come with us." Cora raged, angry with herself.

"Oh hush," Ali responded firmly "You could hardly _make_ me do anything. It was my choice to stay, Cora. You can't take the blame for that."

"You could still come out; I could get you a bus ticket." Cora's voice said hopefully on the other end.

"You know I can't do that, Cora." Ali told her softly, smiling sadly to herself.

"Sure you could, just get on a bus and leave."

"I have a life here Cora, a job and…"

"And?" Cora prompted, waiting.

"I met someone." She whispered conspiratorially, grinning like a fool.

She told Cora everything; how she had met Uncas, the week she had spent hanging out with him, even about the issue at the lake. Cora was quiet until she got the part about Paul and when she spoke her voice was thick with warning.

"You need to get away from that guy, Ali." her sister told her firmly.

"What, from Uncas? He's been nothing but a gentleman." Ali argued back, she could practically see her sister shaking her dark head on the other end.

"You don't want to get mixed up with someone connected to Paul, Alice. How well do you even know this man?"

"Well, not that well, I suppose, we've only been dating a week but-"

"Exactly!" Cora cut her off. "You should end it before things go sour. It's a completely different culture on the reservation, Alice, you'll never fit in."

Ali stood there in stunned silence. Part of her was tempted to hang up the phone and completely end the conversation then and there, but she hadn't heard from her sister in so long that she was loathe to cut her off like that. She felt a tightness in her chest, as though she were about to cry.

"I have to go," Cora sighed, hearing the operators voice telling her to insert more money "Promise me you'll be careful, Ali."

"I promise." Alice said so quietly it was almost a whisper.

"Love you." Cora said quickly and then the line went dead. Alice pulled the phone away from her head and stared at it mutely.

In one fell swoop, Cora had taken all her delight in the new relationship and thrown it out the window. She knew that her sister's intentions had been to protect her from being hurt but she couldn't help feeling a little angry. She was twenty two years old, she was old enough to decide who she _would_ or _would not_ associate with.

Ali looked ahead at the painting Uncas had done of her and her harsh expression softened. Cora was wrong about him. She had to be. No one who could paint this beautifully could be as bad as her sister was implying. Making her decision Ali walked back to her purse and shoved the phone back into it. She grabbed a different CD off the shelf, one that had a hard beat and was most decidedly _not_ ballet music. She put it into the player and hit play, letting the harsh beat flow through her. Putting all of her ire over the conversation with Cora into her movements, she began to dance again.

Author's note:

(Here's what was supposed to be the rest of Chapter eight. Thanks for all the well wishes, guys. ^^Unfortunately, I don't feel that much better. Whatever this cold is, it tanks my energy. The weird part is that it's like being pregnant again; all energy goes out the window. (That's highly unlikely though. Plus my husband has the cold too and I _know_ he's not pregnant ^^)

This part gave us some background on Duncan and started sowing the seeds of doubt on Alice's side. There's going to be a bit of a build to the problem part of the relationship. Cora has expressed her concerns to Alice and Paul has expressed his concerns to Uncas. Now those concerns get to sit in the backs of the characters minds until something comes up to drive them home. Don't worry too much on that though; I don't plan on them having huge arguments in the street or anything like that. And this story does have a happy ending, I promise.

That's all for now. I'll through in a disclaimer that I do not own 'Somewhere in Time'. Just in case anyone thinks to sue me for putting the name in there. If you've never seen it, go watch it. The music is beautiful and the story is really good too.)


	10. Chapter 10

**Warning: graphic sexual content ahead**

Uncas and Ali spent the majority of their free time together over the next two weeks, which admittedly, wasn't very much. When Uncas was on his own while she rehearsed he worked on his paintings or carvings, throwing himself into work until they were together again. Then he would pick her up from the studio and they would catch a few hours together before she had to return home and sleep before starting the process over again the next day.

Sometimes they ended up by the lake or at his father's cabin, where they would try to watch a movie, but usually ended up making out on the couch. Uncas never took it too far, everything they engaged in was simply of the 'through the clothes' variety, but it usually left them panting anyway. It wasn't that he didn't want to sleep with her; in fact it was a feat that he hadn't ripped off her clothes and taken her like someone in a bad movie. The sounds she made when he touched her, the small gasping moan she let out when he did something she liked, was almost his undoing.

It was the look of utter amazement in her eyes that made him pull the reins. He was about seventy five percent sure she was a virgin and that, in and of itself, gave him pause. Some girls guarded their virginity the way other people guarded their bank account number, and though she hadn't told him his touch was inappropriate or unwanted she hadn't given him a clear signal to take things further either. As a result, Uncas never pushed it farther than heavy petting and he couldn't tell from her expression or body language if she wanted him to.

As the clock ticked down to performance time for Ali's dance company, she had to put in longer rehearsal times at night. Because their evenings were that much shorter now, they usually ended up finding a restaurant or coffee shop that had later hours and spending their time there. The rehearsals were now taking place in a performance hall rather than the studio, as they had moved onto dress rehearsal, and needed to familiarize the dancers with the new performance space.

"Would you like to come to opening night?" Ali surprised him one evening, startling him with the question and making him swallow suddenly on a mouthful of hot coffee. He nearly choked and spilled a decent portion down his shirt.

"It won't be that bad, Uncas." Ali scoffed in teasing indignation as he continued to cough and sputter, the coffee sliding down the wrong tube.

"Do you _want_ me there?" he asked hoarsely once he could breathe again. Ali handed him a napkin with a look of sympathy and he mopped at what had spilled down his front.

"Well, it would be nice to have _someone_ there who cares about me," she answered a little forlornly. "Cora's all the way in Texas with Duncan and I'd be lucky if papa even remembered." She looked down at her coffee dismally and Uncas felt a sudden rush of tenderness flood through him. He laid down his coffee and reached out a hand to take hers. Ali looked up at him, coming out of her sad reverie.

"Just tell me when." he said with a smile. The light that light up her face made it worth it, even if he had very little interest in the theatre as a general rule. What mattered was that _she_ did and she needed support, which he was more than willing to give.

That weekend they both had the day off, so he picked her up early and took her back to his place under the pretense that he had forgotten his wallet. The truth was he had a surprise for her. They were on their way to the Reservation Museum where he had a few carvings on display. Ali had been gently pushing him to try and sell some art to the galleries in town and he thought that showing her he didn't just hide his stuff in the house might help alleviate that a little. It wasn't that she was domineering about it or even overtly pushy, more that she assumed he was too shy to show anyone his artwork.

Paul's warning that the outside world not understand or appreciate the Blackfoot culture rang in his head from the first moment she brought it up and Uncas made himself push the thought away. Alice wasn't being dismissive about his culture at all; she just thought he could make some extra money if he displayed his work outside the reservation.

The difficult part of was making her understand that most Blackfoot residents had a distaste for making money off the reservation. A lot of the older generation regarded it as disrespectful and the younger generation regarded it as selling out. It wasn't a concept that would make sense to someone who was not raised with it but he had faith that Ali would come to understand these things eventually.

Uncas unlocked the cabin door and Alice followed him inside. He had left her 'surprise' on the table and he heard a gasp followed by an amused, throaty laugh as she noted the basket sitting on the coffee table that contained the infamous 'Nightmare Bunny.'

"I cannot _believe_ you bought that thing." Ali laughed as she walked forward to lift the monstrosity out of its basket. Uncas smiled as he leaned against the counter, watching her touch the badly sewn face with its scary, bucktoothed smile and the uneven, misaligned button eyes.

"Like I said before, when that's the only thing you can afford, you take what you can get." he chuckled. Ali smirked and laid the rabbit back on the table before dancing her way over to wrap her arms around his waist and hug him.

"Well, I love it anyway." she told him as she stood on her toes for a kiss. He had to bend down to reach her and often made jokes about getting her a box to stand on. It always earned him a playful punch to the stomach.

"Although, if we ever have children, you probably shouldn't give them toy's that will give them nightmares." Ali joked when he finished kissing her.

"Oh, are we having kids now?" he responded teasingly, pulling her in close. "Are we shooting past engagement and marriage and jumping straight to kids?"

"Well, the practice might be fun." Ali answered with a little bit of heat in her eyes.

Despite his hesitation _not_ to push her in terms of intimacy, her words made him kiss her again. As always, the way she molded herself against him made him forget any self-imposed restraint and they ended up pressed against the opposite wall with his leg pressed between hers and her hands tugging at his jacket, trying to pull it off. He was kissing along her neck when she laughed huskily. She pulled back to look up at him.

"You know if we start this, we'll never make it out to the Museum before it closes." she told him a little breathlessly.

"Aw, you're such a buzz kill." he answered with a throaty chuckle.

"This coming from the man that always stops half through?" Ali joked back, her tone was amused but he saw a little bit of frustration in her blue eyes.

He gave her a playful grin and his hand trailed down her front and darted between her legs to rub her through her jeans. She let out that gasp and moan that he loved hearing, her head falling back against the wall as his fingers created friction with the fabric. He liked the sounds she made when he did this and her legs parted a little as he leaned in.

"We have a little time." Uncas said softly, putting his mouth near her ear as he removed his fingers to fiddle with the button at the front of her jeans. He felt her breathing increase as the zipper went down and he nibbled at her lower lip as he moved his hand inside to fondle her through her underwear. She made a little inarticulate cry of pleasure as his fingers drummed at her through the fabric.

"Oh my god," she gasped, eyes shutting at the feeling. After a moment they opened again and she grinned up at him invitingly.

That grin made him dart in to capture her mouth as his fingers moved over her. Ali rolled her hips against him and he decided that, maybe, it wouldn't hurt to go just a little bit further. At the worst she would pull away or tell him no. He tugged the panties aside to feel her with naked fingers. She moaned into his mouth as his fingers slid between the wet folds, seeking upwards for her clit.

"Are you ok with this?" he asked softly, pulling back to study her face before continuing any farther. Ali gasped, biting her lip before nodding.

"Yes." she whispered then turned her heat filled blue eyes up to his. "In fact, I'll be a little mad if you stop." Her tone was both serious and teasing. He smiled as he slid his fingers back and forth over her, making her writhe.

"Well, we don't want that, do we?" Uncas answered as he parted her folds to slip a finger inside. He had to wrap an arm around her waist to keep her from sliding down the wall. Her fingers dug into his arms and she cried out, but it was a good sound not a pained one. Adjusting his hand against her, he began plunging his finger slowly in and out of her. When her breathing increased he added a second finger.

"If you keep doing that I-I…" her voice became inarticulate as he increased his finger thrusts.

"That's the idea." Uncas whispered raggedly in her ear. "I'm not stopping unless you want me to."

"I don't." she said back, swallowing convulsively.

Ali arched against his hand as he added a third finger, using his thumb to massage the bundle of nerves above her opening. The sounds she made combined with his own imagination made him hard against his pants. He felt himself moving instinctively against her as she let out a whimper and bit her lip.

He found himself imagining putting his mouth where his hand was, of feeling her hands in his hair as he brought her with mouth and tongue. The image was so vivid in his mind that when she came, he did too. He covered her mouth with his, plunging his tongue into her mouth to stifle the cry he almost let out. He delved his tongue into her mouth as he plunged his fingers into her core.

Her tongue moved over his as her muscles constricted around his fingers, sending a warm wetness down his palm. Her head fell back against the wall and he collapsed next to her as they both breathed heavily. With his chest heaving, Uncas pulled her underwear back into place and pulled the zipper back up. Lastly, he redid the button and realized he was going to have to excuse himself to get cleaned up and change his boxers.

"You are really _good_ at that." Ali told him appreciatively when she could make articulate sounds again.

"I'm pretty rusty, actually," he said, back to feeling sheepish and shy now that whatever had taken hold of him was fading "I haven't done that for a long time."

"Well, I'm sorry you were on you own with…" she gestured at his pants and he groaned and laughed.

"Oh god, I really hoped you missed that." he rubbed his eyes in embarrassment and Ali giggled.

"It's kind of hard to miss when you're grinding against my leg." she pointed out and patted his arm. "I think we might have traumatized 'Nightmare Bunny' though."

He looked over his shoulder at the stuffed bunny that was _supposed_ to look like it was wearing an excited smile. From his vantage point, it just looked horrified.

"_Yeah_," Uncas drawled with a laugh "We're awful people for doing that in front of a kid's toy."

"It was fun though." Ali replied, grinning.

Uncas disentangled himself from her and went to his room for a change of pants. Once he was sufficiently cleaned up, he rejoined her in the living room and they left for the Museum. He found to his surprise, that what they had done in his living room didn't make their interactions in any way awkward. Another reason he had held off on doing anything too intimate for as long as he had was a fear that it might ruin what they were building.

What if they discovered they weren't compatible in the sex department? They got along well together in all other aspects of their relationship and he had been afraid to change anything by adding sex to the mix. He found that their encounter actually made them _more_ at ease with one another. Now he wished he had been less hesitant all those other times they made out. He looked forward to remedying that very soon.

Authors note:

(This ended sooner than I intended, it was going to be a much longer section but I didn't like what I wrote after this scene so I need to work on it some more before I put it up for public consumption. I also didn't intend for them to do anything sexual yet but they took that choice out of hands, the horny bastards ^^ Oh well, who doesn't enjoy some sexual filler.

It also gave me a chance to bring 'Nightmare Bunny' back. I wanted an excuse to use that joke again and it presented itself here. Unfortunately, Nightmare Bunny got a little more of a show than he was expecting XD

Still not feeling great, its most likely allergies. I'm in some kind of holding pattern where I don't have any of the common cold symptoms; I just feel like crap and have no energy. Anyway, enjoy my nice, graphic sexual chapter; there are more of these coming. I should probably warn anyone that doesn't want to read graphically written sex scenes away now. Doesn't stop here, folks ^^)


	11. Chapter 11

**Warning:sexual content ahead**

The museum trip was interesting for Ali; she hadn't seen anything of the Blackfoot culture other than Uncas artwork up until that point. They spent a couple of hours at the museum and then Uncas drove her to the reservation market so they could get ingredients for dinner. She had offered to get the _proper_ ingredients for the Crepes she had attempted to make the morning after she had stayed over. The two of them received more than just a few odd glances when they walked into the market area holding hands.

The older gentleman who rang out their final purchase couldn't have looked any more disapproving if he tried. Ali remembered what Uncas had said after her encounter with Hurit; that some people were just pretentious and she should try to ignore their cold attitudes. It was hard; it left her with a strong feeling of being out of her element. She wasn't accustomed to feeling that unwanted when she had done nothing to warrant it. Uncas must have seen the frown on her face as they made their way back toward the cabin because he took her hand and squeezed it. She looked over at him, jumping.

"If you keep frowning like that I might have to repeat that performance from earlier just to distract you." he said in a teasing tone that was also a little serious. Ali felt her frown pulling up at the edges, turning into playful grin. Suddenly she had an idea of how to pay him back for what he called a 'performance'.

"Is that a promise?" she asked lowly. They were driving so she couldn't easily crawl into his lap and do what she wanted to do, which was get him out of those pants and do unspeakable things to him. She thought back to his fingers moving between her legs, the sensation of them sliding inside, and tried to imagine that other part of him doing the same. It was with this thought that she pulled his hand up to her mouth and kissed each of the knuckles until she reached the one on his index finger.

This finger she slowly circled with her tongue before pulling it into her mouth and sucking on it gently. She heard his sharp intake of breath as she began to wind her tongue pleasingly around the digit before rolling her eyes over to see him looking at her. There was so much heat in his eyes that she half expected him to slam on the breaks and take her right there in the car.

"Now that's just mean." Uncas told her with mock indignation. "You're getting me all worked up over here and I can't do anything about it."

"Oh _really_," Ali purred around his finger before releasing his hand and sliding over the seat to lay her palm against the bulge at the front of his pants. She felt him stiffen when she moved her hand over him, and noted his hands gripping the steering wheel that much harder. "I think this is meaner."

She slowly undid his jeans, as he had done to hers earlier, and slid her hand down and into his boxers. She closed her fingers around him, gripping the length of him gently. His penis was just as long as the rest of him. Ali ran her hand slowly up and down him, getting an idea of what he responded to. Admittedly, she had never touched any man like this. What they had done against the wall of the cabin was about as far as she'd gone with anyone and _that_ had been a long time ago.

Whatever she was doing must have felt good because she felt him harden in her hand. She gripped him firmly but gently and began to move her hand up and down him. She watched his face as she did this, watching him blink several times, setting his jaw as he tried to keep his eyes and attention on the road.

"If you keep that up we might not make it _home_, let alone get to those Crepes." Uncas choked out. Ali leaned her head against his shoulder but didn't stop her up and down pumping motion on his penis. She heard his breathing coming a little faster.

"They can wait."she said softly. Up down, up down, she ran her thumb teasingly back and forth near the head of his penis. She felt him stiffen again. He took a deep breath and quickly pulled the truck over to the side of the road.

"Good, cause I can't." he told her hoarsely as he pulled the emergency break and cut the engine.

Once the car was parked, Ali helped him shimmy his jeans and boxers down his legs. He moved forward as though to kiss her, but she lowered her head and put her mouth around the head of him instead.

Ok, this _was_ truly something she had never tried before and she hoped like _hell _that she didn't do something painful and ruin it. Uncas let out an inarticulate noise that sounded like 'hah' as she pulled her lips off his penis and began trailing her tongue languidly down his shaft.

His hands stole into her hair as she ran her mouth over him, exploring, trying to figure out what felt good and putting up a show of knowing what she was doing. Ali rolled her eyes up to see his head fall back against the head rest and his mouth open. She smiled before moving back up to the top and closing her mouth over him. She took a deep breath, thought 'here goes' and began to move her mouth up and down like she had been doing with her hands.

The good thing about his hands in her hair was that he could maneuver her head in any way he wanted. It made her look less incompetent than she actually felt. Ali knew when he was getting close because his penis stiffened differently than it had in her hand, becoming rock-like against her lips. He acted like he was going to pull out of her mouth but she looked up at him in a way that said 'go ahead'. It was about that same time that he lost the battle on holding back and came with a cry, his member thrusting into her mouth and shooting semen at the back of her throat.

Ali gagged, surprised tears coming to her eyes as she tried not to recoil from the strangeness of it. He twitched a few times and she rode out his release with her mouth still firmly latched over him. Once she felt him beginning to soften, she released him and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. Ali looked up at him and he looked back at her, slightly red faced and a little startled.

"You're not too bad yourself." he told her, echoing her words to him from earlier. Ali sat back up and smiled at him shyly.

"I've actually never done that before." she admitted slowly. A relaxed smile spread over his face as he reached out a hand to cup her cheek.

"It's ok." he whispered, still smiling to take away her embarrassment. "I'm just glad you didn't try to use your teeth. I had a girl do that once, it's not pleasant."

Ali blanched and then gave a quiet, incredulous laugh.

"Girls _do_ that?" she asked, eyebrow going up. Uncas laughed at her surprised expression and leaned across the seat to kiss her. She was a little worried that he'd recoil from tasting himself in her mouth but if he noticed, he said nothing. The kiss had him pushing her down in the seat but her head hit the window they had to laugh and agree that anything else they did would have to happen at the cabin.

Uncas rearranged his boxers and pulled up his pants before pulling back out onto the road and driving just a little faster back toward home. Once they were parked, he came around to open her door and she all but fell out into his arms, kissing him hungrily.

They made out against the side of the truck for a few minutes, his hands groping at her while she wrapped her legs around his waist and kissed him hotly. One of them remembered to grab the bag of groceries from the truck bed before they found themselves kissing against the front door. Uncas fumbled blindly to get the key in the lock, barely coming up for air as he kissed her back deeply.

Ali didn't even remember getting through the door. She remembered the bag of groceries hitting the floor, she remembered the sound of the front door closing behind them, and from there it was all Uncas hands as they moved over her body. They didn't even make it to his bedroom, they ended up in the space between living room and kitchen as his hands tugged her shirt up over her head.

He pushed her bra up and his mouth fell over her breasts, licking a trail from her chest to her nipple. She arched up against him, gasping as his mouth worked first one nipple and then the other. As his did this his hands tugged down her jeans. She helped him by scooting backward so that he could pull them off and discard them.

Uncas hands were soon on her again, rubbing her through the panties and eliciting a moan. Soon the panties too were gone and his lips were trailing over her stomach, his hair ticking over her sides as he moved lower and lower. She let out a loud gasp when his hands parted her legs and his mouth closed over the hot center of her. She stole her hands into his hair and moaned out his name as he slid his tongue slowly over her, seeking and rubbing against all the right places.

He was stealing away her ability to think, to breathe. She spread her legs wider for him as his tongue darted inside her and cried out as…his phone rang. Both of them went still as the damn thing buzzed repeatedly in his back pocket. He grumbled against her as he wrenched the phone out of his pocket and slid it away from them until it was under the coffee table. Once it was out of sight, his head, lips and tongue returned to where they had been between her legs.

Uncas parted her folds for better access, his tongue trailing a path of heat to her Clit. She moaned out his name a second time when two fingers found their way to her opening and began to slide in and out of her. She was feeling the pressure begin to build when his _fucking_ cell phone decided to ring _again_. Once again his head came up and he glared over at it before letting out a growl.

"Don't move." he commanded huskily as he got up from between her legs and stomped over to pull the phone out from under the table. He looked at who was calling and flipped the top up. He pressed the phone to his ear and growled "Kinda in the middle of something, Sinopa!" At Ali he mouthed 'or someone'. She gave a little laugh and shot him a teasing, if a little harassed, smile.

As she watched, the heat filled expression he had worn since their encounter in the car slowly faded and was replaced with one of deep anxiety. She sat up from where she had been laying and readjusted her bra before jumping to her feet and going over to him.

"What, what's happened?" she asked anxiously as he said "I'll be there in a few minutes" and hung up the phone.

"It's Nate; he's at Hurit's Clinic. Sinopa said he was in some kind of accident." Uncas explained, retrieving the shirt she had pulled off of him somewhere between door and floor. Ali went in search of her underwear and jeans, pulling them both on quickly. Her shirt, she found balled up near the kitchen. That too, she pulled over her head. Uncas was just pulling on his jacket when she grabbed her purse.

"Let's go." she said urgently.

"You don't have to come with me." he told her as she all but pulled him out the door.

"Yes, I do." She answered firmly as he locked the door behind them. "You helped me with my father that one night; the least I can do is go _with_ you and make sure he's all right."

She climbed into the truck before he could argue further. He was out of the driveway before she had even gotten her belt buckled and was speeding his way toward the clinic. They were silent for a while, him watching the road and her watching him. His face was tight with fear. Whatever Sinopa had said to him, it must have been fairly serious.

"I'm sorry today didn't end quite the way I planned for it to." Uncas apologized as he pulled into a parking spot with the squealing of large tires.

"Hush." Ali told him reassuringly. "It's not your fault. Besides, who says we can't continue later?" She gave him a promising smile as she jumped down from the side of the truck. He surprised her by wrapping her in a tight hug and kissing the top of her head.

"I love you." he said suddenly. Ali froze against him, shocked. Had he meant that literally or was he just using it as a way of saying he appreciated her being understanding. He gave her one more squeeze before releasing her and hurrying toward the front door of Hurit's clinic.

Ali blinked after him, stunned, her body unable to respond to simple commands like 'move right leg, move left leg'. He had to have meant it in the appreciative sense, right? They had only been seeing each other for close to a month, that wasn't nearly enough time for him to be in love with her. That being said, she had to wonder how _she_ felt.

With everything that had happened up until now, her thoughts were in a jumble. She was still coming down from the exquisite torture of his tongue moving in and over her. She was lucky she could remember her own name let alone think through whether or not she might be in love with him. After a moment she gave herself a shake and told herself that she was being ridiculous. He hadn't meant he loved her in the literal sense. She was just being silly.

Laughing to herself quietly, Ali made her way to the clinic doors that Uncas had already disappeared though and pulled them open. She made herself swallow her sudden rise in nervousness. She made herself forget his words by the car. She stepped through the threshold and forgot any foolish thoughts as she stepped directly into utter chaos.

Authors note:

(More sexy time filler XD what was originally going to happen here seemed really stupid and I had to spend yesterday trying to decide what to write instead. Soooooo, we ended up with a lot of oral sex. The next couple of chapters are unfortunately going to be the start of the difficult portion of their relationship.)


	12. Chapter 12

The first thing Uncas heard when he stepped through the glass doors of the clinic was raised voices, shouting in both Algonquian and English. He followed the sounds to a closed waiting room door and knocked quietly. The door was pulled open by a tight lipped Hurit, who glared at him before pointing behind her at a chastised looking Nate, who sat on examination table. His arm was in a sling and a myriad of bruises and cuts trailed all over his face.

"Didn't I warn your father about this? Didn't I say that _death machine_ would get your brother injured or worse?" Hurit demanded in rapid 'High Blackfoot', a dialect spoken almost predominately by the older generation. It took Uncas' brain a moment to switch over and make the translation. He hadn't heard the dialect since his father died and the fact that Hurit was speaking it now spoke for how angry and frantic she was.

"Calm down." Uncas said softly, putting his hands up and speaking in the easier 'Modern Blackfoot' of his generation. "What happened?"

"The stupid fool was drag racing at the quarry again." Hurit snapped and stepped aside so Uncas could walk in. She shut the door with a bang behind him. Sinopa was dabbing at Nate's face with a cotton ball, Uncas watched him wince at each touch.

"Wrecked my bike," he said glumly before uttering a loud "_Ow_, go easy with that shit, Sinopa!"

"Well, I'm not sorry you lost it." Hurit told him with an angry glare, turning to place her hands on her hips. "Drag racing? What would your father say?"

Uncas gaped at his brother in quickly rising anger. If Nate was drag racing, as Hurit had said he was, then it meant he was gambling. Again. It also meant that he had lied to Uncas about quitting. Uncas clenched his hands into fists at his sides to keep from hitting something.

"Drag racing." he repeated flatly. "Drag racing at the quarry. Exactly how much did you lose that _I'm_ going to have to pay off for you, huh?"

Nate had the audacity to shoot him a grin even as he grimaced at whatever stinging ointment Sinopa was cleaning his temple with.

"Nothin'," he replied, pleased with himself. "I won. I can actually pay you back some of what I owe for once."

"God dammit, Nate!" Uncas exploded. "That's not the point. You were supposed to _stop_ doing this altogether. And what about your bike, huh? How are you supposed to get to work now? Can he even return to work?" this last question was directed at Hurit who crossed her arms over her chest.

"He _can_, but his shoulder has some tissue damage, so he can't lift anything heavy for a while."

"I'll be fine." Nate mumbled still wearing that lopsided grin. Uncas blinked at his brother in dawning realization and his anger kicked up another notch.

"Are you drunk?" Uncas snapped at him.

"And what exactly were you doing while he was off drinking and joy riding?" Hurit suddenly demanded of Uncas. Sinope glared over her shoulder at the woman and hissed "Mother!" at her harshly. Uncas was opening his mouth to tell her he couldn't control every last decision his brother made when the door clicked and swung inward to reveal a wide eyed and bewildered Ali.

She must have heard their broken arguing from the waiting room and come to make sure no one was killing anybody else. Upon seeing her, Hurit's eyes narrowed and her mouth pulled inward in a disapproving frown. She turned her gaze from Ali to Uncas and shook her head.

"I suppose it's not _what_ you were doing that's the issue." she muttered disgustedly. Sinopa whirled from where she bandaging Nate's head and shot her mother a glare.

"That's enough!" she said chastisingly, her dark eyes flashing. Hurit didn't look at her daughter; she simply scoffed and stomped past Ali who hadn't understood any of what had just happened. Uncas was thankful that the entire dialogue had been said in Algonquian; otherwise Ali would have gotten her feelings hurt. She was still having trouble with the older generation's mistrust of her. Uncas could only blink after Hurit, his father's closest childhood friend who had been like a mother to him after his own died, with his own startled expression.

"Don't mind her." Sinopa sighed when Hurit was out of earshot. "This is just how she shows she cares, as convoluted as it comes across. She's right about you though;" she pushed a finger into Nate's chest and gave him a hard stare "you are going to get yourself killed if you don't knock this shit off."

Nate shot her a harassed glare before looking away. Uncas heaved a sigh and ran his hands back through his dark hair as he fought for control. After a few heartbeats, and controlled breathing, he opened his eyes and spoke.

"How totaled is your bike?" he asked tiredly.

Nate had built that Motorcycle in high school and their father had been none too happy about it then. Up until recently Nate had been smart enough not to get on it when he had been drinking but apparently _that_ had changed too. Drag racing was the main source of gambling on the reservation and Uncas had been consistently paying of Nate's rising debts. The fact that he had won tonight did not make Uncas feel any better.

"Oh, it's toast." Sinopa answered as she bandaged another cut over Nate's nose. "He'd be lucky to get scrap for it now."

"Great." Uncas muttered. The only other vehicle they had was Chingachgook's old truck and Uncas would be damned if Nate was going to take that joy riding too. He took another couple deep breaths and pinched the bridge of his nose while he tried to come up with a plan for how to deal with this new problem.

"Ok, here's how this is going to work." Uncas told Nate, who blinked over at him as though he had forgotten his brother was there. "I will take you to and from work until you can get another vehicle but, anywhere else you need to go, you're walking to. No more drinking, no more gambling. I'm done Nate. If you do this again I won't pick up the pieces for you."

"Uncas-" Nate started to argue.

"No, I'm done. I've had enough. Jesus, Nate, I can't keep doing this with you." Uncas exploded again. Nate's mouth slammed shut while he stared at his younger brother in stunned silence. Even Sinopa stopped what she was doing to retreat back against the sink. She had to suspect this argument was a long time coming.

"My credit is _shit_ because I keep cleaning up _your_ mess. Now we're down a vehicle because of your boneheaded attempt to make some extra cash. You either do this my way or you're on your own!"

The room was completely quiet. Ali hadn't moved from her place by the door. She had watched the whole encounter the way some people watched tennis, with her eyes bouncing from person to person as each contender spoke. Uncas would have preferred she not see this display at all. Hell, he wished he wasn't here dealing with it. What he wanted was to be back at the cabin doing what they were doing before.

He wanted to finish what his tongue had started; he had _planned_ to take it even farther than that but no. Instead, he was standing in Hurit's Clinic, having it out with his drunken, gambling sibling. Now he would have to take Nate home with them and lose any chance of finishing up. On the examination table ahead of him he saw Nate's shoulders slump. His brother looked down at the floor and, ever so slowly, he nodded his head.

"Alright." he said quietly. "Alright, Uncas. We'll try it your way."

"There's no trying here." Uncas responded quietly. "You do it or you leave."

"I said I'd do it!" Nate snapped back angrily. Uncas set his jaw but said nothing as he swung his eyes over to Sinopa, who looked uncomfortable.

"Is he done here?" he asked his friend tiredly.

"Yeah, he's done. You can take him home now." Sinopa answered, subdued.

Uncas paid whatever they owed and left the rest for insurance to figure out. Ali quietly helped him load Nate into the truck, where he sat dejectedly between them on the short ride back to the cabin. Uncas felt his wash of anger sliding away into weariness and he just wanted the day to be over. He knew Ali must see it on his face and in the set of his shoulders and he felt guilty for everything going to hell. She followed them into the cabin and quietly went to put away the forgotten groceries while Uncas got Nate situated in his room and made sure he took a pain killer.

"I'm sorry." Nate mumbled as Uncas was about to leave the room and switch off the light. He turned back to look at his brother, who looked about as contrite as he was going to get.

"Don't be sorry… just stop doing this shit." Uncas sighed. "I really don't want to lose you too."

Nate studied his brother's face for a moment before rolling onto his side and away. Uncas rubbed the back of his neck and shook his head before closing the door and walking back down the hall to the kitchen. Ali was busy pulling a skillet from the stove, and depositing its contents on a plate. Another plate further down held the thin Crepes that she must have made while he was helping his brother get cleaned up. He didn't realize he had taken long enough for her to accomplish all this.

Uncas could smell meat mixed with garlic and another ingredient he couldn't immediately identify. He was too busy enjoying the view of her behind moving back and forth as she fidgeted at the stove, turning it off and moving the skillet to an unused burner to cool.

"You didn't have to make those." Uncas said, making her jump because she didn't realize he was behind her "after I dragged you all the way out to the clinic and all, I really didn't expect you to cook." Ali smiled over her shoulder at him as she ran a wet rag over the counter, cleaning up the small mess from the crepe batter.

"I did promise you Crepes, there was no reason not to make them." Ali said before turning her attention back to the counter.

The more he stared at her, the more his tiredness was being replaced by rising desire. He thought back to how it felt when his mouth was between her legs and the sounds she made when he explored her with his tongue. It was this memory that had him striding across the kitchen and wrapping his arms around her. She gasped as he cupped her breast with one hand and she dropped the cleaning rag when his other hand stole between her legs. He pulled her in against him so that the part of him that was growing hard at the memory of their earlier activities was pressed against her upper buttock. He rubbed her through her jeans and she gave a little whimper.

"I recall you expressed a desire to continue where we left off earlier." He said against her ear, indicating their make out spot with a twitch of his head. Ali gave a quiet, shuddering moan when his hand kneaded her breast. He lifted the hand that was between her legs and slipped it slowly down the front of her pants, fingers probing into her underwear.

"Your brother is here." Ali reminded him with a lusty laugh as his fingers found her already wet slit. She released an '_Ah_' sound as he began to rub her clit, her hands gripping the sides of the counter. "I don't know if I can be quiet enough that he won't hear us." He felt her hips buck against his hands as she added "What if he comes back out?"

Uncas nuzzled the back of her ear as he leaned her forward and pushed two probing fingers inside her. She arched back against him; her head falling back against his shoulder. She let out a moan as his fingers began to pump her core languidly

"I have to…work early…tomorrow." she gasped out as he drummed the inner walls of her vagina. "We won't have time for…" she trailed off and her knees nearly gave out. He caught her and kept her from falling.

"You could stay," he reasoned, voice breathless in her ear "I'll drive you to work in the morning." One of her hands came down to grip his arm tightly as he added another finger.

"I don't have any…work clothes..I-_Ah_!" more inarticulate sounds followed, she was trying really hard to be quiet and it made him want to make her come right there, just to hear those sounds a little longer. Part of him couldn't believe he was doing this with his brother sleeping just a closed door away but the other part felt like it would die if he didn't get to finish their encounter from earlier.

He removed his fingers and she gave a cry of protest as he swung her up into his arms and carried her toward his bedroom. He kicked the door shut behind him and went to finish what they started.

Authors note:

(Didn't I say there would be a lot of sex? XD I wrote the end of this differently yesterday. Originally she turns around in the kitchen and asks if he meant it about loving her and all I could get him to say back was 'Uh, I don't know.' Then the scene completely derailed into something that I didn't want to happen in the _way_ it was happening. So I threw that out and had them go to his room to continue their sexy hijinks.

I'm not sure they're going to complete the act in there though, I had planned for that to happen soon-ish, just not right now. We'll see how I feel when I start writing the next chapter. I'm going to have to force those two apart with a crow bar before it's over XD)


	13. Chapter 13

**Warning: Sexual Content**

They didn't end up having sex that night but it wasn't from lack of trying. It didn't mean they did nothing once the door was shut and they all but jumped out of their clothes. On the contrary, they did quite a bit and _all _of it was mind numbingly good. Uncas had his mouth on her as soon as her underwear hit the floor and he was just as good with his tongue as he had been earlier. He spread her folds, trailing his tongue teasingly around her opening, never quite penetrating. Just when she started to think she'd go mad if he didn't get inside her, he began to pump her with his fingers. She had a very hard time drowning out her cries when her release finally came.

Then it was Ali's turn to make it impossible for _him_ to keep quiet. She learned very quickly how sensitive the testicles could be. She smiled a little evilly as she drew one of them into her mouth and rolled it slowly with her tongue, cupping the other and palming it gently. She did this until he was inarticulate with desire and he nearly tossed her over the side of the bed as he crawled on top of her.

They might have completed the act if two things hadn't happened. The first was that she let out a cry of pain when he pushed all that length inside her. The other was that the motion of their movements thumped the headboard loudly against the wall. Uncas stopped moving and looked down at her, his expression shifting from surprise to guilt in a matter of seconds.

"Oh, God, I'm sorry." He apologized, sliding back and pulling out of her. The bed thumped again as he sat back, looking contrite. "I didn't think about…I'm sorry."

"It's all right." Ali said, sitting up. Another thump sounded against the wall. "I just didn't expect it to hurt that much, I was surprised. Please, come back?" She reached her arms out, trying to smile reassuringly to show she was alright. He looked back at her with such a chastised expression that she had to stifle a laugh. "I'm not going to break, Uncas, I promise."

"You sure you're ok to do this?" he asked. This time she did laugh and then crooked a finger at him invitingly. Finally his anxious look slid away and he crawled back over to capture her mouth, pushing her back into the comforter with his body. He slid in gentler this time, letting her adjust before he started to move. She grimaced from the brief sharp pain but soon that faded and they began to find their rhythm. Unfortunately, every motion of their bodies made the stupid headboard thump into the wall. About the fifth time this happened they heard a muffled voice from across the hall.

"As much fun as it is to listen to the two of you get it on; I've had a _really_ rough night. I would like to get some sleep. Could you knock it off or go elsewhere?" Nate's irritated voice requested.

Uncas and Ali let out snorts of laughter and he fell onto her chest, burying his face in her neck as he laughed. Ali hugged him with one arm and covered her mouth with her other hand, trying to drown out her giggling..

"Sorry, Nate!" Uncas called when he had stopped laughing. All he got in response was an irritated grunt. Uncas looked down into Ali's face with resigned amusement. "I think everything is against us doing this today."

"Even your furniture, apparently." Ali laughed and wiggled from side to side to prove her point. The bed squeaked on its legs and they both fell into another fit of laughter. When it finally subsided, he kissed her and pushed her hair back from her face.

"I really _am_ sorry that today didn't turn out better." he apologized again, speaking quietly so as to not disturb Nate. Ali brought her hands up and placed them on his shoulders, tilting her head to grin at him.

"_Mm_, I'd say if we ended up here that it wasn't so bad."

"Even if we didn't _quite_ achieve sex?" he asked with a crooked grin.

"There's always tomorrow." she answered, shrugging.

"Well, that's something to look forward to." Uncas said before he kissed her again. Then he rolled off her and pulled her in against his chest. She snuggled against him with a sigh and shut her eyes, feeling content in spite of the interruption.

Ali _did_ end up staying all night with him, but all they did was sleep. After the stress of the day, the awkward first try for intercourse, and Nate's sleepy, through-the-wall lecture, they fell into an exhausted sleep just holding each other.

The next morning they woke up early and ate the Crepes she had made the night before. When breakfast was conquered, he drove her back to her apartment so she could shower and change. She was nearly late for her shift at Phillips because Uncas caught her in the hall coming out of the shower. They had both noted, with a playful gleam in their eyes, that her father wasn't home. Ali assumed he had stayed out all night drinking and was sleeping it off somewhere else. They found themselves blessedly alone.

"You, sir, are insatiable." Ali laughed and then gasped as he tugged down the towel to expose her breasts. He had her pressed up against the wall in the hallway, his clothed body pressed up against her mostly naked one. She reached a hand down between them to cup him through his pants as his lips trailed down her neck and collarbone.

"Yeah, well, you bring it out in me." Uncas chuckled as he drew one of her nipples into his mouth.

"I'd really like to finish this but I have to be at work in-" her words ended in a moan as his fingers found their way under the towel and began to move against her. She let herself enjoy the sensation for a little longer before putting her hand over his to stop his movements.

"As sexy as this is, and as much as I'd like to continue it, I need to finish getting dressed" she finished as she gave him a sad pout. He gave a laughing grumble as he removed his hand from between her legs.

"Alright, alright," he relented and pushed back some of her wet hair. "I'll behave." He leaned in to kiss her hotly before adding "For now."

Ali walked off to her room, laughing and shaking her head. That encounter in the hall was to be the last heat filled moment they would have for the remainder of that week. Uncas promised to pick her up that afternoon and drive her to the performance hall. She gave him a whispered promise for what they would get up to afterward and they shared one last passion filled kiss in his truck. Then she absolutely _had_ to go inside the diner. She watched his truck drive away forlornly.

A little after four, she exited _Phillips _and expected to find Uncas waiting for her in the parking lot. Surprisingly, the spot he usually parked in was empty. Ali checked her watch and waited for as long as she could for him before she had to start walking. Even as she made the trek to the performance hall, she would occasionally glance over her shoulder at the sound of any loud vehicle approaching from behind her. She expected him to pull up next to her, full of apologies for being so late. Unfortunately, this didn't happen and Ali arrived at the performance hall frowning to herself. She was changing into her dance leotard when a nearby voice commented on his absence.

"What's this?" the voice said teasingly. "No hot Indian waiting for you today?" Andi, a pretty, dark haired girl Alice had known for three years, was sitting at a lighted makeup mirror. She grinned at Ali appreciatively as she pulled her hair into a bun. Ali gave her friend an innocent, coy smile, as though she didn't know what she was talking about.

"Oh_, c'mon_, Ali?" The girl groaned, rolling her eyes. "Everyone's seen him dropping you off and picking you up for near a month now. So spill, who is he?"

Ali had to laugh at Andi's unbridled enthusiasm about the new man in her life. Out of all the girls, and guys, in the dance company, Alice was the only one who was still a virgin. Andi had dragged this fact out of her a year ago when they had been talking about a random 'sex position.' Ali made it obvious she didn't know what Andi was talking about and it had resulted in some good natured ribbing and a few blind dates that never went anywhere. Seeing Ali with Uncas had probably started more than a few tongues wagging, dancers were hopeless gossips after all. Only the uninhibited Andromeda Pierce was brave enough to ask.

Ali studied her friend and shook her head, placing her hands on her hips. It was a known fact that Andi hated her given name. Her parents had been professors of Greek history and Greek language respectively. She was doomed to have a Greek name from the get go. Andi was the only tolerable alternative she could come up with.

"Yes, Andi, we're dating." Ali told her with a sigh and a laugh. "You may let the papers know. Alice Munro is actually dating someone."

"Have you slept with him yet?" the other girl followed unabashedly. Ali rolled her eyes.

"Seriously?" she responded, smirking. "_That's_ your first question?"

"Is there a more important one?" Andi countered, grinning. Ali let out a snort of laughter as she pulled her own hair into a bun.

"Well, sorry to disappoint you, but no." she revealed, choosing not to mention the 'almost sex' they had tried and failed to have the night before.

"How have you not been all over that?" her friend scoffed with wide, incredulous eyes. "Good God, girl, what are you waiting for?"

"Well, privacy for one," Ali answered as she bent over to zip up her duffle bag "time would also be nice."

"If I had someone who looked like _him_ waiting for me I'd do it in the damn car." Andi declared with a teasing grin.

"And probably have." Ali teased back. Andi threw a towel at her in mock offense and she caught it as they both laughed. They walked into the rehearsal space together and began to warm up.

"So, where is your mystery man tonight?" Andi asked as she fell into a perfect split and stretched forward to touch her toes.

"His name is Uncas and, to be honest, I have no idea." Ali answered in a puzzled tone. "He was supposed to pick me up from the diner but he didn't show."

"Well, that's not good," Andi said with a frown "He stand you up a lot?"

"No, this is a first. His brother was in an accident last night so he might have had to take him to the Reservation Clinic again or something."

"He didn't call to let you know?" Andi queried as Alice stretched her arms over her head.

"No, he didn't" Ali answered, beginning to feel the slightest twinge of annoyance. When he hadn't been there to meet her she had been a little puzzled but not put out. She had legs after all, she was used to walking to wherever she needed to go but Andi was right, a phone call would have been nice.

The other dancers were filtering in and soon any puzzlement or annoyance was pushed to the back of her mind. Soon her thoughts were all of music and the part she was playing as she was lifted and twirled by Gage, the man playing Prince Sigfried. Then Andi, who had landed the role of the black swan, twirled out onto the stage and Ali became lost in the story. By the time rehearsal was over, she had nearly forgotten her conversation with Andi. She was so busy thinking about how well the days rehearsal had gone that she was startled when she found Uncas waiting for her in the parking lot.

"God, I'm sorry!" he said when she saw him leaning against his car. "There was a fire at the other end of the reservation and I got called in at the last second."

"Oh my god! Are you alright?" she exclaimed as she rushed over, intending to look him over for burns. She didn't know what she would do if she found any but her worry for him was so great that she forgot that she had been annoyed at him earlier. He caught her in his arms and hugged her, pulling her in close.

"I'm fine! It wasn't that bad; just some stupid kids trying to make meth in a basement. The call came in right before I was supposed to come get you." Uncas explained quickly, speaking reassuringly. Ali breathed in the smell of his jacket, relieved that he was standing here in front of her. God, what would she do if something happened to him?

"Why didn't you call me?" Ali demanded, concern making her voice hoarse.

"My phone died." Uncas explained, kissing her head and breathing in as though he were trying to take in the scent of her hair. "I'm sorry, baby; I really would have called if I could."

Ali just held him for a long time, her arms wrapped tightly about his middle and her head pressed against his chest. She was so relieved that he was alright. She knew he was a firefighter, he had told her as much, but this was the first major fire call he had gone out on since she started seeing him. God, the thought that he might have been hurt just made her hug him tighter.

"Hey, Hey, I'm alright," he told her as he leaned down to peer into her face "but if you squeeze me any tighter I won't be."

"I love you." Ali said suddenly. It slipped out before she really thought about the words. They froze after she said it, staring at each other as the enormity of her confession sunk in. Ali thought back to when he had said the same thing to her outside the clinic, though she was certain he had only meant it appreciatively. Her words were not said in a merely grateful context, she meant them.

As she looked up into the dark, handsome face of the man she had seen nearly every night since the one where he helped her look for her father, she realized that somewhere in that time she had fallen for him. It wasn't because he was ridiculously good looking, it wasn't because he was undeniably good in bed, and it wasn't because he had stood up for her to Paul. It was because he was good all around.

Here he was, after going out on a rather harrowing fire call, apologizing to her for not picking her up. She couldn't think of a lot of men who would find it necessary to apologize for having to do their jobs or who would rush to wherever their girlfriends were, after the fact, to explain it. Uncas was inherently good and she loved him for it.

"Sorry," she mumbled as she stepped back and cleared her throat, pushing her hair out of her face. "I-_uh_-I didn't mean for that to come out so abruptly."

"Ali-" she gave him a tight smile, fairly certain he had been about to tell her she was nice and all but he didn't quite feel the same.

"_Um_, anyway. Thank you for telling me what happened. I'm glad you're alright." she said this lamely, filling the silence with noise. She couldn't look at him now. God, why had she let it slip out like that? Granted he had said it first but he hadn't _meant_ it like that. She needed to retreat before she dug herself deeper.

"Ali-" he tried again and she shook her head with that smile still plastered on her face. She felt an asthma attack coming on and heard a faint wheeze begin in her chest. Great, she had stressed herself out enough to bring on a minor attack. _Lovely, Alice,_ she thought to herself, _just grind that embarrassment gear a bit more._

I've gotta…I've got to.." she was going to say 'go' but the wheezing kicked in that much harder and she had to iug into her purse for her inhaler instead. She fumbled to get it near her mouth and dropped it. Uncas long fingers caught it before it hit the pavement. He helped her get it to her mouth as she pushed the plunger and pulled the medicine into her airways.

"Breathe, baby." he murmured quietly, rubbing her back as she got her breathing under control. When she was drawing air more normally she looked up to find him close and staring down at her tenderly, his hands still cupped gently on her elbows where he held them while she used the inhaler.

"What I was going to say, before you got so nervous and gave yourself an attack, was that I love you too." Uncas confessed, bemused.

"I thought what you said outside the clinic was just appreciatory." she said back hoarsely. Uncas chuckled and cupped her face in his hands.

"It was, but that doesn't mean I didn't mean it in the traditional sense too." he replied, grinning at her as though she were silly. After a moment she smiled back and covered one of his hands with hers.

"So what happens now?" she asked him.

"Well, first, I'd really like to kiss you then we can talk about that." he said teasingly. He leaned in to capture her mouth and stole all reasonable thought away.

Authors note:

(Ok, would you believe that I wrote and rewrote this chapter all weekend…at least when I had time? I was originally going to take Alice's POV all the way to the end of the week for a relatively dramatic scene but I decided to end this POV here. I have to make some decisions about things that I want to happen in the next few chapters.

I think I'm going to move an event up that was originally supposed to happen toward the middle/end, partly because it's more convenient plot wise and partly because it brings Cora back sooner. (That's all I'll say here so I don't ruin anything)

Ali, uncas, and sex, is the next order of business. XD The reason they don't quite achieve sex here is because I want to save the actual act for another chapter. I have that encounter pretty well planned out and still want to write it the way it is in my head. The reason I had them start the act here was because, one: why wouldn't they, and two: because I wanted to get that first painful time for Ali out of the way. If I wrote them having sex for the first time in the way I plan to write it…it would make Uncas look like a jerk and a little bit rapey. He is neither so I needed to get that out of the way now.

Not too much more to say here. I'm THINKING (key word is thinking) about making this into a three part stories series. Obviously this first one is Ali/Uncas. The next one would be Cora/Duncan (maybe a little Nate, we'd have to see) and the third would definitely be Nates POV. I can't promise this will happen though. I depend's on how things shape out in my brain. Plus I have original content stuff that I _really_ need to get back to writing so I can't promise you guys that this series idea will come to fruition. It's just something that's banging around in my head right now. Would that interest anyone? Most of what on here is Alice/Uncas stuff.)


	14. Chapter 14

Talking wasn't what they ended up doing. First they kissed passionately in the parking lot until he came up for air and asked if she wanted to 'Get out of there'. Ali gave a quick response of 'hell yes' before they dove into his truck and headed for her apartment. He knew that they had every intention of having sex once they got there but had to remind himself that he didn't actually have a condom on him. Shit, he hadn't even thought to use one the night before.

"Um, Ali?" he asked as he made a left turn.

"Hmm?" she made the questioning noise in her throat as she dug around in her purse for her apartment keys.

"I hate to ask this, but since we didn't use anything last night, _uh_…are you on the pill?" he asked this hesitatingly, he didn't want to put her off or make it seem like he thought it should be _all_ her responsibility to make sure she didn't get pregnant. He had been so focused on 'have sex now' that he hadn't even thought to put on a condom. He couldn't afford to add a baby to his laundry list of responsibilities.

"Nope." she answered distractedly.

Uncas felt his nervousness increase and he gripped the wheel a little tighter.

"Maybe we shouldn't do this again until you…are…"he said lamely. Ali's head came up as she found her keys and she blinked over at him as her distracted mind finally made sense of what he was implying. Then she let out an amused laugh.

"Why is this funny?" Uncas asked seriously as he pulled the car into a parking space next to the apartment building. "I can't afford a kid right now."

"I have an IUD, Uncas." she told him, giggling. "I'm sorry, it was just the way you said it. Most of the girls in the company have them. None of us want to get pregnant, believe me. Its career suicide"

He must have had such a look of relief on his face because she laughed all over again and then scooted across the seat to press her lips against his. When she pulled back, her eyes were full of heat and she reached down to put her hand on the front of his pants.

"Now are we going to do this or are we just going to talk about it?" she asked him in a sultry voice. Oh, they were totally going to do this.

They must have looked hilarious, rushing up the stairs and making out as she tried to get her key into the lock. Unfortunately, upon entering the apartment, they found her father sitting in his chair in front of the TV. They were forced, once again, to pull the reins on their libidos. Uncas thought though, as Ali walked him forlornly back to the door, that maybe it was a good thing they hadn't achieved sex this night either.

He still felt guilty for forgetting that she was a virgin on their first try, and though he hadn't ploughed into her like some Neanderthal, he hadn't been particularly gentle either. The list of things he was forgetting were just piling up around him. First, forgetting to use a condom, and then forgetting it was her first time; he was kind of starting to look like an ass. As Ali walked outside the apartment with him, she frowned disappointedly.

"Sorry this keeps getting all fucked up." she apologized. "The one night he decides not to go drinking is the one night I wanted him to _not_ be here."

"I feel like I should apologize for last night, actually." Uncas told her sheepishly. She narrowed her eyes in confusion and titled her head.

"Apologize?" she repeated.

"For _uh_," he cleared his throat and rubbed the back of his neck "You know, for not being more…considerate."

"Considerate?" she looked puzzled and then realization stole over her face. "Oh, you mean when we…?"

"Yeah." he mumbled, nodding. Ali smiled and stepped forward until she was looking up into his face.

"Did I indicate I was upset about it?" she asked him. "Do I look upset now?"

"Well, no but-"

"Would I have asked you to try again if I was upset about it?" she continued, interrupting his argument.

"I just feel bad that I got so overzealous." he told her quietly. "It was your first time and I kind of bungled it." Ali walked forward to put her hands on his chest and stood on her toes to kiss him.

"Uncas, if I hadn't wanted to have sex with you, we wouldn't have done it. You're human and you're not perfect and I don't expect you to be." Ali told him when their lips finally unlocked.

He snaked his arms around her waist and kissed her again before finally releasing her to step back. She was putting him a bit more at ease about the sexual bumble but he would probably feel a little guilty about it for a while.

"Next time, I'll try not to act like some sex crazed maniac." he promised her. She grinned up at him teasingly.

"Oh, where's the fun in that?" she countered. They shared one more laughing kiss before saying goodnight. Uncas returned to his car and thought back on everything that had happened. Even with their first sexual encounter being ruined and all other attempts being interrupted or thwarted, she still wanted to be with him. He didn't know if he was just really lucky or if she was just that patient. Either was, as he drove home, he was happy to have her in his life.

The next day Uncas _planned_ to pick Ali up from the Diner and drive her to the performance hall, the same as most nights. Everything went normally for him at first. He went in for training, put in his requisite time and was heading for his truck to go pick her up when his cell phone rang. The number for the Clinic popped up and he frowned as he put the phone to his ear.

"Yeah?" he asked, wondering if his credit card had been declined. It wouldn't have surprised him; he was probably getting dangerously close to the limit.

"Nate was brought in again." Sinopa's voice rang in his ear. Uncas' shoulders sagged and he leaned against his truck, rubbing his eyes with his free hand.

"Please tell me he wasn't drag racing again." he pled. Sinopa gave a chuckle on the other end.

"No, not drag racing this time, but he did do all the things my mother told him he _shouldn't_ do. He managed to pull some more ligaments. Mom's making him take some time off work so that shoulder can heal."

"I need to come get him, don't I?" Uncas asked, looking at his watch. Shit, he would have to call Ali and tell her he couldn't pick her up this afternoon after all.

"If you could," Sinopa responded, "he's pretty drugged on pain meds right now so walking isn't an option.

"Alright," Uncas sighed, "I'll be there in a few minutes." He ended the call then scrolled though his contacts until he found Ali's number. He was dumped into voicemail since she was still working so he left a message, apologizing for standing her up on such short notice. At least this time his phone didn't die on him.

He drove the short distance to the Clinic and spoke to Hurit and Sinopa, who told him that Nate was not to lift anything for at least a week and even then it shouldn't be anything that weighed more than ten pounds. He had strained a bunch of ligaments and if he wanted that shoulder to get better, he needed to rest. They also showed Uncas the expenses he was going to have to pay for.

The interesting thing about healthcare on the reservation was who it did and did not cover. Uncas and Nate were brothers, even if Nate was adopted. They had grown up in the same household and had the same parents. It stood to reason that, because Nate was a resident, he should have the same healthcare as his brother, but no. Nate could not prove native blood; therefore the Blackfoot Nation would not cover his health care. That happy task fell to Uncas who was already financially embarrassed. This new bill was more than he could afford and he groaned looking at the itemized total.

"Just pay what you can." Hurit told him kindly. She knew how stupid and uneven the system could be, how even public assistance from the government was dependent on how thick your native blood was. Chingachgook had been fairly certain that Nate had _some_ native blood, as he had been abandoned _on_ the reservation, but it was so diluted that he looked as white as anyone from the surrounding town. He could not apply for public assistance, and even if he could, after taxes he'd be lucky to get enough to pay for the sling on his arm.

Uncas thanked the two women and loaded his goofily grinning brother into the truck. He took him home, led him into the cabin and settled him onto the couch so he could fall into a painkiller induced coma. Then Uncas went to look over the monthly bills and see how dire losing Nate's paycheck was going to be. What he found did not make him feel better.

If Nate couldn't go back to work right away, that was several bills that couldn't be paid. Uncas shuffled through all the bills and realized with a sinking heart that he was going to have to find _some_ way to pick up the slack until Nate was better. He sat back in the chair and thought, trying to think of places on the reservation that _might_ be looking for extra help. Unemployment was a problem in the Blackfoot Nation, the last time he had checked it was at about 70% for reservation residents. For so many living in the surrounding area, if you were sick or injured as Nate was, you were screwed.

Uncas sat there for a little while, staring at the pile of bills, feeling more and more sorry for himself before he gave himself a kick to the behind and got to his feet. He would drive to every business on the reservation if need be, until he found somewhere that was willing to hire him on a part time basis. He made sure that Nate was comfortable and laid a glass of water on the table for him before digging his keys out of his jacket pocket and heading out to do some job hunting.

He did exactly what he thought he would have to do, and that was drive from business to business. As he expected, no one was willing to take on people they didn't know well and most couldn't pay what they were losing from Nate's income. Finally, he had to start looking into grunt work. The Oil wells were all manned out so he had no luck there; he decided to try the Browning Logging Company next.

Fortunately for Uncas, the crew that did the actual cutting down and loading of the trees had just lost one man to retirement and another to disability leave. The foreman was so desperate to fill the opening, as most people avoided the dangerous and physically taxing profession, that he offered Uncas the afternoon shift if he wanted to try his hand at it. They needed every able bodied man they could get. Uncas took the job out of frustration and lack of any other options. The logging job paid well enough to cover _some_ of what they were losing while Nate was laid up. He'd just have to suck it up and be really frugal with the rest of his pay.

When Uncas picked Alice up from rehearsal that night, he told her he had taken on a second job and why. He explained that it would, unfortunately, limit their time together until later in the evening. She understood about the situation and he loved her just a little bit extra for that. Little did he know the strain that his new job was going to put on their relationship.

Work in the Logging Company was exhausting; there was no other word for it. From the time he got there until the time he left was a repetition of cutting, loading, and hard physical labor. It was especially exhausting when he had to come straight from the physical activity of brushfire training to the physical activity of heavy lifting with the logging crew. By the time he finished at the end of the night, he was dragging all the way to pick Ali up from the performance hall.

"Uncas, are you alright?" her concerned voice asked him one night about three days into the new job. He shook his head and blinked, realizing he hadn't heard a word she had said to him.

"Sorry, what?" he asked tiredly. Ali frowned at him from her place across the small table, her eyebrows drawing in as she studied his face. They had stopped at one of the café's they'd discovered on a walk several weeks ago and he realized he'd been staring blankly at the pastry she had bought for them to share.

"I asked if you wanted to come to the after party on opening night." Ali repeated. Again, he blinked at her as each individual word was decoded by his tired brain. He had only gotten about five hours of sleep the night before, one of the pipes in the kitchen had sprung a leak and as he couldn't afford to pay someone to fix it, so he had stayed up way to late doing it himself. After putting in yet another thirteen hour day of hard labor, he was not feeling at his best.

"After party," he repeated and then nodded as his brain caught up. "Yes, yes to the after party."

"Honey, you need a break. You're killing yourself with this other job." Ali said as she reached across the table to lay a hand over his. "You've been distracted all evening and you look exhausted. Did you get _any_ sleep last night?"

"Not much." he mumbled and rubbed his temples before squeezing the hand that held his. "I hate to do this but can we call it a night before I fall asleep in this tart," he poked it with a fork, "Danish," one more poke, "cookie thing?"

"It's a tart," she laughingly corrected as she pushed it back into its bag "and yes, I'd rather you get some sleep than risk you losing a limb to one of those tree saws tomorrow."

They walked out to his car and he gave her what, he was sure, was a less than satisfactory kiss. It was all he could manage in his current state. He promised that he would be better tomorrow when he picked her up, but the following evening he ended up standing her up _again_ because he fell asleep on the couch. Uncas had only intended to sit down for a minute and had leaned back and closed his eyes. He was woken up several hours later to a curt phone message from Ali and had to scramble to explain what had happened.

The final straw came at the end of the week when they _finally_ had some privacy. She had had the day off but he had not. When he finally finished with his shift with the Logging Crew he had picked her up and brought her back to his place so they could spend some alone time together. Nate was going to be gone for the evening; he was out with Paul doing whatever it was they did. Uncas and Ali ended up having the house to themselves.

Everything went well enough to start; they ate dinner and were settling on the couch to watch a movie when he felt her hand slid teasingly into his pants. He felt her fingers close over him and begin to move up and down. He became relaxed as she was working on him and leaned back to shut his eyes with a sigh. Unfortunately, somewhere in the middle of her ministrations, he fell asleep. Uncas didn't even realize it had happened until her heard her voice say "Are you asleep?" in a tone that was more than a little surprised.

"What?" he said, coming out of the impromptu nap and looking around in confusion. Ali had climbed onto his lap at some point during the 'get Uncas horny' attempt and was looking into his face worriedly.

"You fell asleep." she told him in a serious tone. "You even started snoring." Uncas looked back into her pretty, if concerned, face and shook his head.

"No, I didn't." he answered without any conviction as he scrubbed at his features, trying to think of a plausible lie. None was forthcoming. Ali sat back in his lap and sighed, her mouth pulled into a frowning line.

"Uncas, you can't go on like this" she told him quietly but firmly. "You're going to end up falling asleep at the wheel of your truck."

"I'll be fine, baby." he told her, trying to smile reassuringly. "I'm just tired."

"You've been distracted all week." she told him holding up one of her fingers, "You've zoned out during every conversation we've had," another finger went up, "and now you're falling asleep during sex." A third finger went up. "You can't tell me not to be worried about that?"

"I'm working two jobs, Ali," he answered more defensively than he intended "I'm trying to make ends meet and I'm exhausted. Nate can't work; I have to pick up the slack."

"There's public assistance for people on the Reservation," she pointed out. "He could apply for it until his shoulder heals. You shouldn't have to kill yourself to take care of him."

"Public assistance isn't worth a crock of shit." he snapped back at her. She recoiled at little, looking hurt.

"It might leave him three dollars when all is said and done, it won't even buy a new roof for the house. Not all of us can make an _easy_ living dancing like you do." he continued, bitterly.

"Easy." Ali repeated softly, her face stunned and hurt where she looked back at him. "You think being a ballerina is easy?"

"All I'm saying is that playing dress up and flitting around on a stage is _not _the same as doing two physically tasking jobs because you have a laid up sibling and a load of bills to contend with." He said back more harshly than was necessary.

He knew he wasn't being particularly kind to her but he had heard people say 'just go on Public Assistance' for too long. Public Assistance for Native Americans wasn't as great as the white people thought it was and it was ignorant comments like hers that made him realize why Paul said she 'wouldn't understand how things worked.'

He started regretting his harsh words when she very slowly slid off his lap and got to her feet, her features shifting from hurt into an angry scowl. She pulled off her shoe and tossed it onto the floor and then pulled off on of her socks and threw it down to join the shoe. Still scowling, she pulled her foot up and laid it on his knee and then pointed to it.

"Does that look easy to you?" she asked him angrily. He looked down at her foot and blanched. Two of her toes were an angry shade of purple. They were taped together with a bit of medical tape and looked more than a little painful.

"How-?" he gasped, sitting up to take a closer look at the toes that he now realized _had_ to be broken.

"That's what my _easy_ job does to my feet." Ali informed him before lowering that foot and taking the shoe and sock off the other one. This one too, she put up on his knee and it too had a bruised digit. He looked back at her in bewilderment. Those injuries were recent; she hadn't had them earlier in the week when they'd been thoroughly unclothed. He also hadn't noticed her doing much grumbling or limping which he found odd considering how painful the injuries looked.

"Have you been to a hospital to have those looked at?" he asked as all his tiredness and annoyance washed away to be replaced with genuine concern. His question only served to make her more angry rather than less.

"No, Uncas. I have not been to a hospital."she informed him as she lowered her foot back to the floor. "There's nothing a hospital can _do_ for me. They can tape my toes and charge me 500 dollars that I don't _have_ but that's about it. You know what dancers do when they're injured? They take ibuprofen and they dance through it!"

She was mad at his thoughtless words about her profession and he realized that, though her words about Public Assistance had been ignorant, they had been well intentioned. His had just been defensive and insensitive.

"Ali, I'm sorry," he said as he got to his feet. He saw angry tears in her eyes, tears he had brought on because he had attacked her when she was only trying to help him. She had meant well and he had thrown it back in her face.

"You think my life is easy, Uncas?" she demanded, glaring at him. "You think that I don't know what it's like to not have enough money to pay for things like phone bills and electricity?"

"Ali-" he tried again but stopped when he saw the angry tears spilling down her cheeks.

"My sister _left_." she cried at him. "There's only me now. I have to look after my alcoholic father, who _pisses_ away everything I make if I can't get it into the bank right away." she scrubbed the tears from her cheeks angrily. "I know how it feels to be so bone weary it makes you stupid. So if this relationship is more than you can handle then just say it."

"Whoa, wait, what's going on here?" he asked her, stunned that they had gone from having a misunderstanding to him not being able to 'handle' their relationship. He hadn't meant to snap at her like he had and he _certainly_ hadn't meant to make her think he couldn't shoulder being with her.

He stood in the onslaught of the hurt he had caused and tried to find the words to remedy the situation. When he couldn't find any she turned from him and stomped out the door, just barely remembering to grab her purse from a stool as she went. She hadn't even remembered to put her shoes and socks back on.

"Ali, wait!" he called and ran after her. She was already down the steps and into the dirt road by the time he made it outside. He could hear her sniffing as she strode away from the house and he ran down the cabin steps to catch up with her.

"God Dammit, Ali, would you wait!" he called again. She did stop walking but it wasn't because he had asked her to. He was pretty certain she would have tried to walk all the way home in her bare feet if the wheezing hadn't kicked in. She dug violently into her purse for her inhaler as he finally caught up to her.

"I'm sorry." Uncas said again, once he was near her and she finished pushing down on the plunger on the inhaler. Her face was tear-streaked and miserable behind her curtain of pale hair. "I didn't mean what I said. I was embarrassed and defensive and I didn't mean it. I love you, Ali. Being with you is not too much for me."

"You don't have to spare my feelings." she told him, her voice still choked with hurt and tears. "God knows, I'm used to people leaving by now." She might have said more but her face suddenly crumbled. She buried her face in her hands and sobbed.

"Oh god, please don't do that." Uncas pled as he moved forward to wrap his arms around her. She buried her face in his chest and wrapped hers around his waist as he held her close.

"I'm sorry, baby." he said a third time, kissing the top of her head. "Please don't cry."

After a while, the tears ebbed and were replaced with dry sobs. Those gave way to sniffing and then finally to silence. When it seemed like she might be done, he titled her face up to look at him.

"Better?" he asked. His shirt was now covered in tears and snot. Ali scrubbed at her cheeks again before mumbling "a little."

"I'm sorry I jumped all over like that." she apologized when her voice was a little more steady. "I got angry and I shouldn't have reacted like I did."

"I'm sorry I said your job was easy." he responded, cuddling her in against him again. "Seriously, how do you dance on those things? They look awful."

"We don't have a choice." she answered, rubbing at her nose with the back of her hand. "Going on pointe is murder on the feet. Unless it's the big toe or a knee injury, you have to dance through the pain."

"I will never call your job easy again." Uncas promised and elicited a snort of laughter from Ali who hugged him. "We should probably go back in though, it's cold and you forgot your shoes."

Ali looked down at her feet and laughed again, nodding. They walked back toward the house with his arm around her shoulder. He did notice some limping this time, as she had no shoes to cushion her injured toes.

"Would you really have walked all the way home in bare feet?" he asked as they walked back up the cabin stairs.

"I probably would have petered out before I made it to the bus stop." she told him as they went back inside.

They settled back onto the couch to finish the movie they had been trying to watch for forever, and this time they both fell asleep; Uncas with his head thrown back against the couch edge and Ali with her head resting in his lap. This was how Nate found them when he returned home several hours later.

Authors note:

(The reason this update is so late is because I had to rewrite this chapter until I was happy with it. I'm hitting that point where updates may or may not come every day. I depends on how happy I am with what I write and I refuse to give you guys stuff I don't feel satisfied with. ^^

Ok, a couple of things to clear up that have been mentioned in reviews. One is Alice's enthusiasm in relation to sex despite the fact that she's a virgin. I'm going to overshare for a minute here, and I hope you guys will forgive me because I don't have a better way to explain this:

The sex I've written for them is based on my own experiences. I did not have sex for the first time until I was 23 and Ali in this story is 22. She decided it was time to have sex and she decided to do so with the person she's currently dating.

As has been said numerous times, this is a modern day story. Most people who have reached their 20's (college age) decide that it's time to have sex. There aren't any religious reasons not to have sex in this story so no one has any real issue with sex before marriage. It really just comes down to Ali being ready to have sex and deciding to have it with him. And who can blame her, he's really good looking XD.

Which brings me to the next thing I need to clear up: Uncas forgetting Ali is a virgin.

He's human; he's not perfect, as this chapter has already proven. He screws up and he makes mistakes and he feels bad about them later. This is how it goes with most men. First time sex is awkward no matter whom you are, and if you are so involved in what you're doing that you forget your own name then you also tend to forget that your partner is new to the table. Uncas apologized for his lack of consideration right after it happened and again in this chapter.

Again with over sharing, but this is pretty much how my first time went too. It was surprising and painful and no matter how many people told me 'it only hurts for a minute', it didn't prepare me for that initial sharp pain. I'm writing this story based on my own experiences for some things and based on research for others.

Now onto the next thing I should mention:

Things that I have mentioned that are fact. One, is everything I said about Public Assistance on a reservation appears to be true. Research indicated that the government does very little for people on reservations, whether that be unemployment or college tuition. When all is said and done, they're lucky to have three dollars left over for whatever they need. If you can prove your degree of ethnicity you can get free health care on a reservation but if your blood is diluted too far then you're on your own.

Second, is the part about Ali's toes being broken and having to dance through the pain. One of my best friends was a Ballet Dancer all through high school and she informed me that yeah, if you break a toe while on pointe then tough shit. You take an aspirin and you keep going. It is in no way easy to be a ballerina and I thought it was time that was shown a little here.

Thank all of you for reading and reviewing. I always try to take into account what you guys say and think about it if something seems unclear. I won't tell anyone to go to hell who points something out to me that doesn't make sense to them. I'm glad everyone still enjoys this story. Hopefully, my brief oversharing won't put any of you off from continuing to read^^)


	15. Chapter 15

Ali exited the performance hall two nights _after_ the argument with Uncas and took a deep breath of the charged night air. In the distance, she heard the faintest peal of thunder rumbling away behind the mountains. Ali suspected that she would be able to dispense with her white winter coat in favor of a lighter spring jacket in the coming weeks. It was a bit warmer this evening, for once she didn't see her breath hanging in the air as she sucked in that first deep breath. She could even smell rain in the air. Spring storms usually started popping up in Montana around early April. Judging by the sound of thunder and the smell in the air, they were going to be right on time.

Ali stretched her sore arms over her head and bent sideways at the waist, giving a satisfied groan as the sore muscles pulled and her back realigned with an audible pop. All the dancers in the company were pulling double duty now. John had been nice enough to give her the weekend off for rehearsal, since the opening night of Swan Lake would be the following Saturday. Because of this, the Company Directors were working them like dogs.

'_Gage, concentrate! You have to be able lift her without that arm shake!'_ she could still hear David's voice commanding from the wings.

'_Alice, hold that leg steady and mind your posture!_' Julia's stern voice had followed.

Alice had been relegated to several hours of nitpicks like that and there wasn't a part of her that wasn't sore or complaining. Gage had caught her awkwardly during one of the lifts, he had barely kept her from colliding with the stage floor and she now had a bruise under her ribs to prove it. Ali made a mental note to warn Uncas about that before they were intimate again so he didn't think her father was manhandling her. She walked toward her apartment thinking about Uncas and the fact that she had barely seen him the past two days.

The night of the argument, they had fallen asleep on the couch, only to wake up at about three A.M. and discover how truly uncomfortable their sleeping positions were. Ali and Uncas had dragged themselves from the couch to his room, where they sleepily changed. He changed into a pair or boxers and Ali into one of his longer T-shirts before they fell into the welcoming sheets of his bed. They muttered only a sleepy 'love you' between them before Uncas spooned up against her back and they were out again.

Ali woke up a scant four hours later to blink over at the clock on his nightstand and groan unhappily. It was time for her to get up and get moving if she hoped to make it into work at all. She rolled over and peered into Uncas peacefully sleeping face, feeling guilty that she had to wake him up too.

"Hey," she called softly, running a finger down his nose to try and gently rouse him "It's time to wake up."

Uncas gave a muffled sort of '_mpfh_' sound and grabbed at the finger that was tickling his face, pulling it to his chest and holding it there. He frowned in his sleep but didn't open his eyes.

"Uncas," she called softly and tickled his nose with some of her hair "c'mon, time to get up."

Again with the frown and the muffled '_mpfh_', he rolled away from her and onto his side. Ali had grinned and playfully crawled over to straddle his waist as she blew some air into his ear. He gave a grumbling groan and finally opened his eyes to blink up at her.

"Hi." she said with a soft smile. He blinked a few more times before focusing on her where she sat on top of him.

"What time is it?" he mumbled.

"Too early," she replied, as she frowned over at the clock, "I need to get back to my apartment and change."

"I should just clear a drawer for you in here," Uncas said, grumbling and rubbing his face, "especially if you keep staying over like this."

"Oh, I've earned drawer status." Ali teased, laying down on him with her hands folded over his chest and her chin resting on her arms. He turned his eyes down to see her grinning at him and smiled back sleepily, bringing his hands up to rub her bare arms.

"I think you've earned _most_ of the statues" he responded with a not so secret smile before his features shifted to tender. "Besides, it's nice having you here."

"What will Nightmare Bunny think if I suddenly move in?" she joked. The monstrosity of a stuffed toy lived on a shelf in the living room. Uncas laughed and twirled a bit of her hair, which had fallen over one of her shoulders, with his fingers.

"Oh, Nightmare and I are on a break." Uncas sighed in mock discontent. "He's so _needy_ lately." They smiled at each other as he scrubbed at his face with one hand. " Seriously, though, I think he might be a little haunted. Nate swears he moves around the house on his own."

Ali laughed and leaned up on her elbows to kiss him. He rolled with her until he was on top and they made out like that for a little while until she definitely _had_ to get up and get home. That was the last of any discussion about his clearing a drawer for her.

Uncas had driven her home before dropping her off at the diner, and it was on the way to the diner that Ali decided he shouldn't be putting himself out to drive her everywhere anymore. When he tried to argue the point, she informed him that she had legs that worked perfectly well and had always made the walk before him without any trouble.

She told him she was worried about him trying to make all this time to see _her_ while he was so exhausted. She proposed this instead; if, at the end of the night he felt up to it, he could pick her up from the Performance Hall and they would do something. If he was too tired to come out, she could either take a bus out to see him or they simply wouldn't get together that evening. Uncas didn't act entirely thrilled with this arrangement, he liked the excuse to see her, but even he had to agree that it was best to do as she was suggesting.

So, that night after rehearsal, Ali had checked her voice mail and there was one from Uncas telling her he was pretty beat and was going to turn in for the night. She was fine with that, she had had a pretty exhausting rehearsal herself and wanted nothing more than to take a shower and fall into bed.

Ali had walked home and checked the mail slot as usual. Her eyebrows went up in surprise when she found a bill there for the Emergency Credit Card. She frowned as she walked up the stairs and tore open the envelope with her fingers to see _why _they had a bill. She had that card hidden and, to the best of her knowledge, had not used it for anything. She pulled out the list of expenses and felt her blood run cold.

It was not the total itself that was the problem, it said they only owed about one hundred and thirty dollars but it was _where_ the amount had been spent that got her attention. Every location where the money was utilized was a bar her father liked to drink at. How in god's name had he found the cards hiding place?

Once she was in the apartment she raced into her sister's old room and pulled up the grate under the window. In the grate was a little wooden box that used to house a set of playing cards. In this little box was where Ali had stashed the emergency card before hiding the box itself in the grate. Her father must have found it the night that he searched her room for her tip money. She hadn't thought he would be clever enough to search Cora's empty room too. He had stolen, used it, and returned it to its hiding place, probably hoping to intercept the bill before she did.

Ali had called Uncas to rage about this newest bill, ranting that it was money she would have to pull out of what she was saving to buy a car. She swore and vented for about fifteen minutes and he listened patiently until her anger petered out. In the silence that followed her angry rant he took a deep breath and made a suggestion.

"Why don't you put the card in a safety deposit box?" his deep voice offered her reasonably. "That way the only person with the key is you and he won't be able to get to it."

Ali stopped her angry pacing to stand in the middle of her room, staring at nothing with the phone pressed against her ear.

"That is…a surprisingly brilliant alternative." she told him and then smiled as though he could see her. "I knew I was dating you for a reason." Uncas laughed on the other end and she could imagine how his cheekbones went up and the flash of white teeth in his dark face.

"See, I have my moments," he quipped, still chuckling, "I bet you thought I was just a pretty face, huh?"

"Well, not _just _a pretty face." she teased back. "The rest of you is pretty nice as well."

They had talked for a few minutes more before she had to hang up and get ready for bed. The next day she did exactly as he had suggested. She took the card to the bank and placed it in a safety deposit box, adding the key to her key ring immediately. She also went one step further.

Ali cancelled any of the cards in _his_ name and she removed most of the money from his wallet. She left him about thirteen dollars so he could get something to eat at the corner market but not enough to get him sufficiently drunk. She also removed all the liquor from the house. It _all_ took a one way trip down the sink drain.

Ali knew this was going to make life with him precarious at best but she hoped to not be around for him to take it out on her. So far that had been easy enough, as she had only been coming home to sleep. Her father was bad enough drunk, but that was nothing compared to when he started sobering up. The few times he had tried to quit drinking when she was in high school had resulted in quite a few bruises for her and Cora. He always went back to it in the end, one way or another. She couldn't afford to force him into rehab so limiting his money and opportunity was her only recourse.

She thought about this fact as she climbed the stairs to her apartment and _hoped_ that her father would be out when she opened the door. Uncas had left her a voicemail that was thick with exhaustion but promised he would see her tomorrow. They both had the day off again, finally, and were determined to spend some time together after two days of only phone calls and text messages.

It was with this happy thought that Ali opened the door and flipped the light switch on. She let out a horrified gasp as she took in the wreck that was now their living room. Her father stood in the midst of over turned side tables and chairs. The coffee table lay against the sliding glass door on its back, there was a long crack on the underside of it and one of its legs was busted off.

"Papa, what have you done?" she whispered, her voice stunned and flat sounding. Edmund Munro stared down at the wreckage he had wrought with a heaving chest. When she spoke his shoulders tightened and he looked over his shoulder to glare at her with angry, blood shot eyes.

"Where is it?" her father demanded harshly. "Where have you hidden it?"

"Where is what, Papa?" she asked, hurriedly closing the door behind her and wondering if the neighbors had heard the ruckus he had to have made. They'd be lucky if the cops didn't show up. Her question only served to agitate him more and he pierced her with his angry, withdrawal besieged eyes.

"The card, you great, bloody _dreep_!" he shouted at her. "Where have you hidden it?"

Ali swallowed as she realized all this carnage had been the result of him looking for the card she had removed from the apartment. Apparently, he had torn the place apart apart trying to find its new hiding spot. She straightened her spine and faced him, keeping her expression and voice calm. She knew they were about to have a very serious altercation. If she wanted to be the one standing at the end of it, she was going to have to watch his every move.

"You know we don't use that card for anything but dire emergencies." Ali explained calmly. She hadn't moved from her place by the door, she wasn't going to get near him if she could help it; he looked ready to start taking swings.

"I don't need my own flesh and blood setting the rules for what I do with my own money." He roared at her. "Now you give me that card, Ali or, so help me god, I will whip the skin from your back."

Ali took a deep breath and fought for calm. Every part of her screamed that she should run; get out of there until he forgot all this. She knew from experience that calm would not be forthcoming for Edmund Munro. Not right now, not tomorrow, and probably not the day after. Giving him the card would also have been a huge mistake, if it was still accessible, and she was once again glad it wasn't.

"I can't give you the card, Papa." she told him softly. "It's not here anymore"

"What'd you say ta me?" he asked dangerously, taking a step forward. Ali swallowed her rising fear but stood her ground. She was tired of being afraid of him and she was tired of being threatened by him; she was tired of a lot of things. She refused to retreat like a frightened child anymore which was becoming increasingly more difficult with the way he was sidling towards her with his nostrils flaring and his eyes blazing like that. Ali dipped her hand into her purse and wrapped her hand around her keys. She maneuvered each key between her fingers to make a weapon.

"You heard me, Papa." she answered with more bravery than she felt. Sweat trickled down the back of her neck and her legs trembled a little. She would strike him if she had to, she'd be damned if she was going to let him hurt her anymore. "You're drunk; you need to go to bed."

"Ain't no daughter a' mine gonta tell me my business." Edmund informed her thickly; she brought the fist with the keys to her side so he wouldn't see it but kept her gaze locked on his. "Now you go get me that card!"

"I can't." she repeated. "It's not here."

"Where'd you hide it?" he demanded again, he stopped moving once he was right in front of her. Ali made herself stay where she was, kept her eyes locked on him, looking for the sign that he would strike.

"Somewhere that it can't be used for things it's not supposed to be used for."

"You go get it, girl!" he commanded. "You get it or I'll _make_ you get it."

"No." she said, her voice barely a hiss of sound as she tensed up.

Ali expected him to take a swing at her. She was _ready_ for him to take a swing at her. What she was not ready for was her father barreling at her like a charging bull. He moved faster than she had ever seen him move, wrapping his thick hands around her throat and pressing her against the door roughly. His hands squeezed around her neck, pressing in violently and biting into her wind pipe. He was burlier and stronger than she was. He used his weight to press her bodily into the door as he cut off her air.

"GIVE ME THE TUPPING CARD!" he bellowed into her face.

Ali struggled against his hands, digging at his forearm with her nails. She couldn't squirm her way out of his grasp and almost dropped the keys that she was futilely trying to jab into his arm. Suddenly remembering her impromptu weapon, she brought the keys up and slammed them against his ear.

Edmund gave a great bellow of pain as his hands released their death grip on her throat. Gasping, she sucked in air into her burning lungs and dove out of the way, scrambling down the hall to get away from him. He was screaming behind her as she skidded into her bedroom and slammed the door, locking it behind her.

Ali heard his angry feet racing down the hall, his fist hammering on her bedroom door as he screamed and threatened her from the other side. She backed away from the door, still gasping as she took in the mangled mess that was her room. Apparently, he had come in here first and torn the place apart looking for money and the Emergency Credit Card. Her mattress was flung off the side of the bed. Her sheets were a jumbled mess in the corner. He had overturned her book shelf and her clothes had been thrown every which way around the room.

"YEW GLAIKIT BINT!" her father's enraged voice shouted through the door. "YOU WORTHLESS, BLOODY SCADGE! OPEN THIS DAMN DOOR BEFORE I BUST IT IN!"

Ali walked farther and farther back from the door as he began to kick it from the other side. She could hear the lock and the wood screeching with every blow. It wasn't going to keep him out forever. She didn't want to be here when he finally broke it down. Ali stopped backing up when her behind collided with the window ledge and she looked behind her desperately. The fire escape!

Unlocking the window, she hurriedly pushed it up and climbed outside. She heard the wood cracking around her door frame as she raced blindly down the fire escape stairs. She had just reached the bottom when her father's head appeared up top, looking out the window for her.

"ALI! YEW GIT BACK 'ERE!" his angry Scottish voice screeched. Ali hurriedly climbed over the side of basket but a crack of thunder overhead startled her and her feet slipped off the edge. She tried to grab the lip of the grate as she fell but only achieved scrapping up her hand as she landed on her side on the pavement. Her purse went flying, littering the contents on the alley floor. Her cell phone skidded under a dumpster and was lost from sight.

Ali didn't waste time trying to retrieve it either. Wheezing and gasping with the air that had been pushed from her lungs, she gathered up what she could see back into her purse and ran as her father's heavy steps sounded on the fire escape above. She ran out of the alley as he bellowed her name. She ran to the bus stop just as the last night bus was closing its doors.

Ali banged on them desperately with her bleeding hand, leaving streaks on the cool glass. Finally, the driver opened the door, casting her an expression that said she looked half crazed. She quickly threw some coins from her pocket into the pay bin as the door 'whooshed' shut again behind her.

She collapsed into an empty seat, trembling and holding her bleeding hand up near her chest. It left more streaks of blood on her, now dirty and torn, coat. Cradling her purse on her knees, she dug out her inhaler with her uninjured hand and took a long drag on it. There were desperate tears streaking her face as her lungs slowly loosened up.

Ali leaned her head back against the plastic seat and drew rasping breaths as the bus pulled away from the curb. It was a couple of stops before she could breathe clearly enough to think about _where_ she was going. She had been so focused on 'get away now' that she hadn't cared where the public transport was taking her, just as long as it took her _away_ from her father. She glanced distractedly up at the LED screen that showed the next destination; luckily for her, she had chosen her escape route well.

It looked like the next stop would drop her off near enough to the Reservation that she could walk to Uncas' if she chose. She realized in the part of her brain that was still capable of rational thought that she should call Uncas but she had lost her phone and she knew that returning to the apartment wasn't an option. Where the bus would drop her off didn't have a readily available pay phone either, and even if it did, she had used all her coins to pay for the bus ride. It looked like she was going to have to hold it together long enough to walk to the cabin.

Once the bus stopped, she descended the steps and began the slow, plodding walk that would take her onto the Blackfoot Reservation. She knew the way well enough from having made it with Uncas so many times, she had just never done it by foot, so she had no idea how long the walk would _actually_ take her. As she made her way down the flat expanse of road, surrounded on both sides by farmland, flashes of lightening lit the road ahead of her. Thunder pealed over her head and the storm that had been threatening earlier was right on top of her.

Ali barely noticed when the rain started to fall. She had entered autopilot mode. Her one single thought was 'Get to Uncas'. If she thought about anything else she would fall apart and she couldn't afford to do that right now. She walked along numbly, staring straight ahead, as the lightning arced its way across the night sky.

It was not unusual for her father to fly into rages like that when there was no available alcohol. It was not unusual for him to take this rage out on his children. What _was_ unusual was the fact that he had tried to choke her. She didn't know if he would have stopped before he killed her and counted herself lucky that she had distracted him with a well-timed blow to the ear.

She looked up curiously when a heavy drop of rain landed on her head and made a wet trail down her scalp. Soon another rain drop joined it, then another and another. Soon it was pouring and she found herself trudging through the wet sheeting rain, soaked and sore, as she tried to see the road ahead of her. She didn't know how long or how far she walked before she heard the distant sound of a car engine.

The sound of tires on wet pavement reached her ears first and then light lit up her figure and its shadow on the road. Ali turned, peering blearily through the pounding rain to see a car approaching. She shielded her eyes and stepped aside to keep from being hit as a dented gray van pulled over to the side of the road. Ali blinked the rain out of her eyes as a figure climbed out the driver's side door and ran towards her.

"_Odette_, what the fuck are you doing out here?" Paul's rough voice was shouting over the thunder and rain. He stopped up short in front of her as she stood there, simply staring back at him. He squinted through the falling sheet of water and tried to see her in the light from his headlights.

"Paul." she said when her brain finally caught up enough to relay his name to her. When she spoke her voice was hoarse, raspy. It hurt a little to talk. Paul's hands came out towards her and she recoiled instinctively, backing up.

"Easy." he said calmly, putting his hands up to show he wasn't going to hurt her. When she didn't retreat again he reached out more slowly to pull down her bottom lip with his thumb. "You have blood on your lip."

Ali reached her scraped hand up to touch her lip tentatively and pulled her fingers away to see a smear of blood. She either bit herself when her father had grabbed her or when she had taken her ungraceful tumble from the fire escape. She had been so fired up on adrenaline that she hadn't even noticed.

"What happened, Alice?" Paul asked her, surprising her by using her given name rather than his nickname for her. She looked from her fingers to his now drenched visage with its black hair plastered around his face and tried to make sense of what he was saying to her. "Why are you out here, where's Adrian?"

"What?" she asked him distractedly. Her brain understood that he was asking her questions, she could hear the sound tumbling from his mouth but her traumatized brain was about half a second behind where it should be on processing everything.

"Ade, is he out here with you?" Paul shouted over the rain. "Were you in an accident or something?"

"Uncas," she heard her raspy voice responding, "I was walking to Uncas' place." Paul pulled his mouth into a tight line at her quiet and robotic responses. She stared back at him numbly, unfeeling. Her brain kept telling her '_Uncas' place; get to Uncas' place'_ over and over. This was the only clear thought that was making it through without trouble. Finally, Paul stepped up next to her and put a hand gently against the small of her back.

"Why don't I just take you to there" he offered soothingly as he guided her toward the van. She went along silently, holding her sodden purse in her limp hands and looking down at her ruined boots. She would care about that later, she thought to herself, as the van opened to reveal two of the other men Paul frequently ran with. They stared out at her with wide eyes and lit cigarettes dangling from their mouths.

"Hey, put those out!" Paul snapped at them. "You'll give her an asthma attack."

The two men hurried to comply, silently flinging the half lit cancer sticks out onto the wet pavement. Ali watched these actions dully, with no appreciation that she had asthma at all. She continued to stand there until Paul gave her a gentle push toward the van and the man nearest the door offered her a hand to help her inside. She took it and climbed in but ended up settling silently on the floor of the van, her legs folding gracefully underneath her. Paul shut the van door and ran around to the passenger side. He slammed the car door and shook the rain out of his long hair.

"Should we try to get her into a seat?" one of the guys was asking as Paul pulled the van back out into the road. He didn't answer and she felt rather than saw the two men looking at her.

"What happened to her?" the other asked, leaning forward in his seat to try to see into her face. "Isn't this Ade's girl? What's she doing out here?"

Ali didn't fill them in, she couldn't. Her mind had narrowed the world down to the soaked purse where it lay in her lap. She felt disconnected from everything, emotionally stifled. She knew that she should feel something, fear, anxiety, panic. She felt nothing, she was empty.

Ali didn't even feel the van come to a stop, For all she knew they had driven for days without stopping, Maybe the wheels of the car were worn to nothing and when she stepped outside it would be daylight. She didn't hear Paul get out and open the side door. She wasn't aware of what was going on anymore until his voice penetrated the silence that had wrapped itself around her brain.

"Ali!" a voice was calling. She furrowed her brow, trying to recognize it. "Alice?" it said again. She wished it would go away; she didn't want to come back to reality. "Hey, _Odette_!" the use of her nickname had her turning her head slowly to the right. Paul was standing in the rain outside the van with a hand held toward her, waiting.

"We're here." His soft voice informed her.

Here. Where was here? Where was she going? She suddenly couldn't remember. Ali slowly crawled across the seat and placed her cold hand into his. He said something to the two guys in the car, probably telling them to wait, as he guided her around the side of the van. When she took in the dark windows of Uncas cabin she felt her numb brain give her a jolt.

'_Here, here_,' it seemed to shout. '_This is where we want to be, this is home._'

"Whoa!" Paul said as she took a step forward and her heel slid in the mud. He caught her and kept her from falling. He pulled her upright and snaked an arm around her waist as he guided her forward.

"It's all right, I got you." His voice reassured as he led her to the steps. "We're almost there."

Later she would probably find Paul's carefulness confusing. She would remember that he didn't like her, that he didn't like her relationship with his cousin. Right now she was only vaguely aware of his presence as he walked her through the simple act of climbing the stairs. Ali felt herself flying precariously close to the breaking point, little cracks were appearing in the carefully constructed barricade she had built around her emotions.

Little bits of what happened were falling through those cracks and she felt the beginnings of another attack despite the fact that she had already used her inhaler. It probably wasn't obvious to Paul, as she only let out the occasional raspy breath, but all the stress of the evening was slowly catching up with her.

He pulled her to the door, holding her against him with one arm as he banged on it with his fist. Ali felt herself beginning to tremble. It was a fine quaking that snaked up her legs and traveled down her arms. '_Home, safety_.' Her brained told her. '_Once that door opens, we'll be safe._'

There was a muffled voice calling out from behind the door, she was vaguely aware of Paul's voice responding. The door was opened to reveal and sleepy and confused Uncas who froze when he saw his cousin standing there with a sopping wet Ali at his side.

She let out a relieved sob when she saw him, her brain shifting from '_the house is safety'_ to '_this man is safety._' She went limp, sliding out of Paul's arms like she was boneless, sagging in relief as she crumbled to her knees on the porch. Everything that had been keeping her from brain protected from the nights events just shattered and she felt herself hyperventilating. When Uncas knelt before her she raised her head to assure herself it was him. His brown eyes stared back at her and she held them for only a moment more before threw herself into his arms and held on for dear life.

Author notes:

(Sorry for the long gap between updates, guys. I had a really tight schedule for the last five days and I had to really work on this scene to get it where I wanted it. I think after about four read throughs and edits, I've got Ali's reactions where I want them. That Ladies and gentleman was tough.

The first time I wrote this chapter, by the time I got to the end bit here where Paul finds here…I had her as a babbling, nonsensical mess. That didn't feel right to me so I went back and made her reactions more distracted and slow, which struck me as more reasonable for the character at that point.

I didn't want her to fall apart with Paul; I don't think she'd feel safe enough to do that. I also wanted to get across the feeling of Uncas=safety which I think came across better once I got to the four write through.

I'll probably be a couple days with the next chapter too because I'm going to have to devote the same attention to Uncas POV. I wrote a little of his last night but it's not quite right yet.

The other issue I'm running into right now is that I am bone weary tired. We spent all of Saturday in the sun at my uncles pool and I have STILL not recovered from that. I don't know if it was too much sun or not enough water but I have been absolutely DRAGGING for the past day and a half.

Anyway, thanks for your patience. I'm sorry I made you wait so long; I just really wanted to get this right before I posted it. Hopefully the next chapter will come more easily.)


	16. Chapter 16

Uncas' brain couldn't intially make sense of what was awaiting him when he opened the door. He had stumbled out of his room at the incessant pounding, groggy and half awake, his brain still foggy from being pulled out of deep sleep.

"Hold on!" he called, his voice still thick as he stumbled into the living room and switched on the light. He was momentarily blinded and had to cover his eyes from the glare; another round of pounding sounded from outside.

"Hold up, I'm coming!" he shouted again and plodded his way to the door, grumbling. This had better be important, it was the first time he had gotten anything resembling a good night's sleep in days and he really wanted to get back to it. Uncas unlocked the door, opened it, and blinkingly looked out into the rain soaked night.

His cousin was standing there, soaking wet, and Uncas couldn't fathom _why_ Paul was outside his door. His eyes had shifted down to whatever was clutched at the man's side and he furrowed his eyebrows in confusion at the sopping wet girl that nearly sagged against Paul's shoulder.

Uncas squinted at her in the porch light as she peered up at him through her moon pale hair. His brain slowly informed him that the girl was Ali _after_ it took note of the torn and blood smeared coat and the bluest of blue eyes peeking through the hair. For some reason he was having a hard time truly _appreciating_ that it was Ali. Uncas froze as their eyes met, wondering if he was dreaming all this. Ali shouldn't be here this time of night, in weather as bad as this. She certainly shouldn't be here with his cousin; they didn't even like each other.

Ali's eyes looked wild as they stared back into his and there was blood glistening on her lower lip. His brain was just informing him that this was _not_ a dream as Ali's eyes suddenly swam with tears. She let out a desperate sound, almost a laugh that turned into a sob, as she went completely limp against Paul.

His cousin couldn't hold her as she slid down his side to land heavily on her knees on the porch. At first Uncas thought she had fainted but she caught herself with her hands as rapid, shallow breaths came out of her mouth. Her head fell forward, the hair obscuring her face as she began to hyperventilate.

It was this action that kick started him out of his sleepy fog and gave his brain a jolt that said '_something really bad has happened to your girlfriend, why the hell are you just standing there?_' Now fully awake, Uncas dropped to his knee in front of her; he was reaching out to take her shoulders into his hands, to ask her what happened, when her head shot up and her eyes locked on his. Before he could ask her anything he got a face full of wet hair as she threw her arms around his neck and held on to him, trembling.

The force with which she threw herself against him knocked him back onto his ass. His arms came around her as he nearly sprawled back into the entryway. She trembled and gasped into his neck as the rain water from her drenched coat soaked through his t-shirt.

"Ali, what…?" he tried to gently pull her back so he could look at her, so he could get some idea what was going on, but she clung to him like a spider. She clung like she would crawl into his skin. He brushed her hair from his face and looked up at his cousin whose expression mirrored his own; utter bewilderment.

"What the hell is going on?" he asked Paul before making shushing noises to the girl who was struggling to get herself under control against him.

"I don't know. I found her walking down Byers road." Paul explained as another round of thunder cracked outside. He came into the cabin and shut the door behind him while Uncas tried to right himself while still keeping a hold of Ali.

"She said was trying to get here."

Why had she trying to _walk_ all the way to his father's cabin? Judging by her bedraggled appearance and the way she held onto him, something traumatic had befallen her between her place and his. The question was what?

Ali didn't appear to be in any position to explain either. She burrowed into him and shook like a leaf, probably soaked all the way through to the clothes she wore under her coat. He shushed her again as he tried to disentangle himself enough so he could get into a less awkward sitting position. No such luck, she wasn't letting go and he wasn't in the best position to pick her up like this.

"Ali, baby, I need too…" he tried to turn her in his arms but it only made her cling to him tighter. Finally, he sighed and looked up at Paul. "Could you help me get her up?"

Paul came to kneel in front of Uncas and managed to lift Ali up enough so Uncas could get his knees under him. Once he achieved this, they lifted her off the floor together, making a human chair with their arms until Uncas was on his feet. Once he was upright, he took her weight from Paul and carried her over to the couch.

"Paul, go to the hall closet and get a towel, please?" Uncas requested as he sat her on the couch and finally managed to disentangle himself enough to fiddle with the buttons of her coat. She was a little calmer now; through her breaths, as she drew them, were still shuddery. He heard Nate's door open as Paul was digging into the hall closet, he heard his brothers questioning voice and Paul's muffled response.

Once Uncas had the buttons undone he fiddled with the knot at the waist belt. He shucked the coat down her arms and tossed the wet thing into the kitchen. Paul came back out with the towel he had requested and Nate padded around the corner to take in the scene with sleepy, confused eyes.

Paul handed the towel over to Uncas silently and he reached for it without taking his eyes off Ali. Her ragged breathing was slowing down as Uncas tried to towel off her wet hair and face. Her lips were moving and he had to lean in to hear what she was saying.

"Lost my…phone…" she explained to him hoarsely, her voice sounding raspy and odd, like she hadn't used it in a long time. "Couldn't call you."

"Ran to the bus…he was chasing me…" her hoarse voice continued, answering the questions he had yet to vocalize. Uncas took her face in his hands and tilted it from side to side, looking for injuries. Other than the lip, he didn't see anything obvious. He found her pupils to be dilated and she wasn't looking directly at him, which his firefighting training had taught him was evidence of shock, but other than that she just looked drenched and scared.

"Who was chasing you, baby?" he asked her calmly. He felt anything but calm right then, but one of them had to be the rational one. Ali took one great heaving breath and finally focused her eyes on him. Seeing him seemed to make her both better and worse; he couldn't account for the why on that until she gave him some indication of what had happened.

"Oh god, Uncas." she rasped, a tears trailed down her pale cheeks. "He was like a mad man."

"Who, Ali?" he asked again. Paul had come to kneel down next to him, listening and interested but unable to offer much more help. Uncas had to give the man points for not running off as soon as he had deposited Ali on his doorstep. Nate walked up behind them and all three men stared at her, waiting.

"Papa." she whispered and silently began to cry.

"Will someone please tell me what's going on?" Nate demanded as Paul shot him the "no clue' shrug. Uncas focused on keeping himself from flying into a murderous rage. His blood was boiling beneath his skin as his mind ran through every awful scenario that could have befallen her.

Most of them were obviously wrong since Ali barely had a mark on her aside from the bloody lip and the scraped hand. The lips looked like she had bitten it during whatever had _actually_ happened and the hand looked like it could have occurred while she was trying to escape her, presumably, drunken father.

Uncas took her hand in his so he could inspect the nasty scrape that ran from her thumb, down the heel of her palm, and ended a little below her wrist. He did this to distract himself from his anger; he was a hairs breath away from killing her father for putting that trauma in her eyes. The scrapewas going to be a _bitch_ to clean out and it was probably going to hurt like hell when he did it. What had happened that caused her to scrape it so badly?

"Ade." Paul's voice cut through his thoughts about her hand injury.

"What?" he mumbled as he turned the hand every which way. It looked like there might be some rust in the wound. He hoped she had a recent tetanus shot.

"Look."

Ade lifted his head as Paul reached over to brush some of Ali's wet hair out of the way. His motion revealed livid, purple bruises ringing the flesh of Ali's neck. Uncas jumped forward and touched the angry, finger shaped marks marring her skin. Ali winced as his fingers traced them. If he had been angry before, he was seething now. Uncas hopped to his feet with his hands clenched into fists at his side. Nate had to take a step back from him or be knocked over and Paul looked up at him with startled bewilderment written all over his face.

"I'll kill him." Uncas stated in a voice that didn't sound like his own. It was too dark, too angry to be his. He stomped away from the couch, away from Ali with her haunted eyes and his cousin with his confused, worried ones to grab up his jacket. "I'll fucking kill the bastard!"

"Uncas!" Nate called and reached out to grab his brother's arm; Uncas hauled his arm away and stomped toward the front door. Paul jumped to his feet and Ali's head darted up as she finally gleaned that something was going down around her.

"Ade, don't!" Paul barked at him.

"He fucking choked her!" Uncas bellowed at the men. "He's lucky he didn't kill her. I can promise you this: I'll get out of jail before that fucking bastard gets out of the hospital!"

"Ade, take it from someone who's done a lot of stupid things that this is a _really_ stupid plan!" his cousin warned him. Uncas had his hand on the door but had yet to turn the knob. Paul took his hesitation as an opportunity to continue.

"It won't do either of you any good if you end up in jail. Just let the white police handle it. Don't screw yourself over for this."

"He's right, dude." Nate softly agreed. "I know you're pissed, but try to see reason here. Do you really want to go to jail because you beat up your girlfriend's dad?"

He had actually been planning to do _more_ than simply beat up the old man, but he had to admit that his brother and cousin were right. Giving in to the baser instinct of 'Uncas smash' was not going to help anyone, least of all Ali. His hand still gripped the door knob and he set his jaw angrily as he released it and reached into his jacket pocket for his cell instead.

"Better go get your dad, Paul." he told his cousin roughly as he punched 911 into the cell. "There's probably gonna be white police here in an hour or so."

He heard Paul give some kind of acknowledgement as he walked around Uncas to haul open the door and race back out into the rain. Uncas distractedly closed the door again behind him and leaned against it as he reported to the 911 operator what little he knew. He gave the operator Ali's address and his own and she promised that an officer would be dispatched to both locations. Once he hung up with 911 he punched in Sinopa's number.

"Hello?" her sleepy voice answered after several rings.

"Any chance you can come out here?" he asked her without even identifying himself or offering a greeting. "Ali's been through something pretty bad and I'm not really qualified to do much for her."

"Uncas?" she asked sleepily. "What the fuck time is it?"

"Can you come to the cabin or not?" he repeated without answering her question. He could hear shuffling as she presumably sat up in bed.

"I-yeah, ok. Give me a few minutes to throw on some clothes." Sinopa told him. He nodded and thanked her before closing the phone. Uncas walked back over to Ali, who had relegated herself to staring at her hands where they lay on her knees.

"Should I be doing something?" Nate asked, obviously feeling useless with everything else that was happening.

"We got any tea?" Uncas asked as he sat next to Alice and brushed some of the wet hair out of her face. She didn't look at him, she just stared at her hands as though they held the answers to an unspoken question.

"Maybe?" Nate answered, thinking. "There might be some in the pantry."

"If there is could you make some?" he requested quietly.

"Yeah, ok." His brother mumbled as he made his way to the kitchen and gave them some limited privacy. Uncas laid a hand over Ali's and she jumped at the touch, as if she was just now aware that he had come back. She turned to look at him distractedly. He pulled a blanket off the back of the couch and put it around her shoulders as she stared at him.

"Cops are on their way." he told her quietly. She nodded, not arguing. He wasn't sure she had it in her to argue. He reached a hand out to cup her cheek; it felt cold against his palm. "How are you holding up?"

"All I could think about was getting here." her raspy voice told him. "I couldn't think about anything else."

"You made it baby, it's gonna be fine." Uncas told her reassuringly. He could hear Nate banging around with the tea pot in the kitchen. Ali's eyes became very intense as she stared back at him, as though she had something really important to tell him and he wasn't following.

"You don't understand." She said insistently, grabbing the front of his wet shirt with her long fingers. "It wasn't just this house I was trying to get to, it was you. _You're_ safety, you're my…my..."

She began to cough before she could finish telling him what he was. The wheezing that had been fairly minor when she collapsed in the doorway was now heading into a full blown asthma attack. Uncas patted her back and then walked back over to where her purse had landed by the door when she had thrown herself into his arms. He reached down to pick it up and his fingers searched blindly for the inhaler she always kept in there. He found it and brought it back over to her, placing it in her hands. She quickly brought the thing to her mouth and pushed the plunger while he took his seat next to her again.

"Baby, how many times have you used this today?" Uncas asked her when her breathing loosened but not as much as it should have.

"Two," she gasped, "maybe three times. I don't remember now. I used it on the bus too. The guys in Paul's van were smoking, I think…" she trailed off and took another drag on the thing. The sounds coming out of her throat were hitching and harsh but she was getting enough air through that she didn't look in any danger of passing out. Sinopa was on her way, he told himself. She'd know what to do.

The young doctor arrived pretty soon after that and immediately ushered Ali into the bathroom to get her in a tub of warm water. She brought the wet clothes out to Uncas who threw them, and her destroyed coat, into the wash. Then he went to his room to dig out a t-shirt for her and some sleeping pants that could be drawn in at the waist. He knew they'd be too long but they'd have to do for now. He waited outside the bathroom while Sinopa looked her over and helped her get the asthma attack under control.

She came out of the bathroom as Paul came back in with his dad, who looked put out to be woken up so late. He probably also wasn't happy about being woken up for what he would consider 'white people problems,' but he'd be even more unhappy if they hadn't call him at all and let him find out about it in the morning.

"Well, she's a little banged up and shows signs of minor shock but I think she'll be alright." Sinopa told him, speaking quietly. "I cleaned out the hand scrape and made sure nothing was broken. A little rest will do her a great deal of good. What happened to her Uncas, what's going on?"

"I think her dad attacked her." Uncas told his friend grimly. "I don't know, she hasn't told me much yet, I'm making assumptions based on what little I've figured out."

"Well, she'll probably need a breathing treatment tomorrow, this attack wasn't as bad as the last one but it's obvious she needs a little more than the inhaler can provide. I can refer you to a clinic in Browning for that." he nodded; it was all he could do at that moment. Sinopa looked up at him with worried brown eyes.

"How are _you_ holding up?" the girl asked him softly. He let out a bitter laugh and ran his hands back through his hair.

"I'm…angry, scared. I have no fucking clue what's going on. She's not going back to that apartment, I can tell you that much." he declared angrily. Sinopa looked over his shoulder at Magua, who kept glancing at the door like he expected the police to break it down at any moment.

"Shhhhhh." The young doctor quieted him, putting a hand up. "One thing at a time buddy, don't go moving her in without talking to her first. That's kind of a big step for people that have only been dating a month."

Uncas threw a hand up in surrender because he didn't feel like arguing the point. Besides, a knock sounded at the door with a voice that called 'Easton P.D.' Magua jumped to his feet and put on his cop face as Uncas sighed and went to open the door for them. Sinopa disappeared back into the bathroom to get Ali out of the tub and dressed.

Uncas let the two cops in who had come to take a statement and led them into the living room. They exchanged some terse and tight words with his uncle while they waited for Ali, who was led out of the restroom by Sinopa a few minutes later. She looked pale and tired but not hysterical anymore. Her breathing still sounded a little harsh but not as labored as it was. Uncas wondered if Sinopa had given her another corticosteroid. He held out a hand to Ali and she took it, coming silently to his side as Officer Edwards introduced himself.

They took her statement as Nate brought her some tea and she gripped it in her hands as she described what had happened. She explained it all in that same haunted, hoarse voice that she had explained it to him. He knew he probably squeezed her leg really hard when she talked about how her father had pushed her up against the door, choking her while demanding the credit card Uncas had suggested she remove from the apartment. He squeezed it again when she described him trying to kick down her bedroom door to get to her. By the time she got to running into Paul on Byer road, Uncas was ready to kill the bastard all over again.

"Do you want to press charges?" Officer Edwards asked as the other officers, Thomas he thought his name was, cell phone rang. Ali blinked at the cop mutely and didn't answer. Uncas couldn't make the decision for her, even though he'd very much like to. He supposed it didn't matter as he had no intention of letting her go back to live with that man.

Before she could say anything one way or another, the cops whose phone had rang waved Officer Edwards over. He gave Ali a sympathetic smile and hurried over to see what his partner wanted. Ali leaned her head in against Uncas shoulder and he put an arm around hers.

"Can I be done with today?" she asked him tiredly. He gave a little laugh as he kissed her drying hair. He gingerly helped her climb to her feet.

"Yeah, baby, you can be done. C'mon, they have your statement, let's get you to bed." Uncas was turning her to lead her back to his room when Officer Edwards came hurrying back over wearing a guarded expression. Ali's head came off his shoulder to look at the man expectantly.

"_Um_," the officer began slowly, "we found your father but _uh_.." he cleared his throat and gestured back to the couch with his head, "you might want to sit down again, sweetheart."

"Why?" Ali asked him. She looked too tired to care about whatever it was he had to say.

"Well, I don't know how to tell you this but, your father was found outside the apartment complex, he passed away."

"Passed…away..?" Ali repeated each word slowly.

"He's dead?" Uncas asked, shocked. "How?"

"We can't be sure but the coroner thinks he fell off the fire escape. It looks like a massive heart attack." The man explained, still looking at Ali.

What happened next should not have surprised Uncas considering everything that had happened to her that night. In fact, he would think later that he was surprised it didn't happen sooner. She made very little sound, only a low moan as her knees crumbled under her. Uncas barely had time to grab her as she fell, catching her before she collided with the coffee table.

"Ali!" he exclaimed, catching her at the shoulder and pressing her body against his hip so she didn't complete the fall. "Shit!" he cursed as he tugged her back up. Her head lolled on her shoulders as he pulled her upright. Her face fell forward against his chest as he held her against him with an arm around her waist.

"Ali!" he called again, patting at her cheeks. The room had exploded in activity with the two cops rushing forward to try and help, Paul moving in behind them and Nate from the opposite side. Uncas ignored all of them as he patted her cheeks, trying to bring her back around.

"C'mon, baby." he said urgently, patting her face. "Come back."

She did. The faint didn't last for more than couple of seconds. Her eyes blinked open as Sinopa was muscling her way through the crowding men.

"Move, please?" she asked Officer Edwards. He moved aside obligingly as she came up next to Uncas who was still peering into Ali's stricken face. Sinopa took her pulse, looked at the dilation of her eyes and asked her a few basic questions that Ali simply didn't attempt to answer. Sinopa made a face and turned back to regard the room.

"Alright, enough!" she told them commandingly. "This girl has had enough shocks for one evening and needs to get some rest. Is there anything else you _absolutely_ need from her tonight?" This she asked Edwards pointedly.

"No, we got what we need. She'll have to call the hospital about what to do with the body. He'll be at Saint Andrews." The officer explained more to Uncas than Ali. Uncas nodded at him before turning his attention back to Ali. She wore such a miserable look of guilt that made it heart wrenching to look at her.

"Someone will take care of it." Sinopa told the officers. They nodded and offered condolences to Ali who didn't appear to hear them. Sinopa walked them to the door as the officers exchanged a few more words with Magua. She nodded to Uncas Uncas who returned it before silently swinging Ali up into his arms and walking out of the room. He carried her to his room and lowered her into the bed, pulling the covers up over her. She grabbed his hand when he went to leave the room.

"I'm not dreaming am I?" she asked him raggedly. "This is all really happening?"

He sighed as he took her hand as he sat down on the edge of the bed.

"No, baby, you're not dreaming. I'm so sorry." he murmured. He wasn't particularly sorry her father was dead but he _was_ sorry that she had to face that kind of loss. He remembered when his father had died and how ragged he had felt even though he and Nate knew it was coming. There was nothing that prepared you for being an orphan, nothing.

"Oh god, it's my fault." Ali moaned, new tears streaking down her face. "I ran, he was probably chasing me when…" she gave a quiet sob and Uncas knelt down to brush the hair out of her face.

"Oh, Baby, no." he told her soothingly and kissed her face. "Shhhhhhh, no, you couldn't have known this would happen."

"I should've done more, I should've…" she dissolved into quiet tears and all he could do was climb into the bed and hold her. She was already exhausted so this brief crying jag didn't last more than ten minutes. Soon her breathing evened out and when he was sure she was asleep he arranged her more comfortably in the blankets. He kissed her cheek before going out to rejoin those that remained in his father's cabin.

"Is she sleeping?" Sinopa asked when he came back out. He scrubbed his face with his hands and lowered himself onto the sofa before nodding.

"Good. I'll call the clinic in Browning when they open, get you set up for that breathing treatment." Again Uncas nodded. Now that all the anger and adrenaline were wearing off, he felt exhausted too. He wondered what time it was.

"She gonna be ok?" Paul asked. Uncas found the concern in his voice touching, maybe Paul was capable about giving a crap about a white girl after all.

"Depends on your definition," Uncas answered as he leaned back and shut his weary eyes, "but yeah, probably."

"Are _you_ going to be ok?" Magua asked him worriedly. Much like when Sinopa had asked, he let out a laugh and sat forward to rub his eyes with the heel of his palm. When he finished, the room was looking at him like he might explode at any moment.

"Well, as there's no one left to kill so I mostly feel drained." he answered wearily.

He wouldn't miss the old man that was for sure. His interactions with him had been minute and not friendly. The last time he had seen him, the man had only grunted in his direction and hadn't bothered to get up from his chair or say hello. Ali had indicated that, after that first meeting where he had flattened him against the pavement for trying to hit her, her father had only referred to Uncas as her '_towering_ _lavvy-heid.'_

"We'll get out of here and let you sleep." Sinopa said, speaking for the room as she ushered Paul and his dad toward the door. Uncas made himself get up to see them out at the very least. The rain was lessening when he opened the door, now just a drizzle that made the road look foggy. Magua turned back to him on the porch and eyed his nephew with a drawn face.

"So what happens now?" Magua asked him.

"What do you mean" Uncas countered tiredly.

"I heard you tell Sinopa you weren't letting her go back to wherever it is she lives. Does her father being dead change that?" Magua asked. Uncas pinched the bridge of his nose and fought not to say something sarcastic that he might regret later.

"I don't know, _Aahsa_" he responded. "A lot has happened in the last hour. Ask me again after all this is over, all right?" Magua studied him a moment longer before nodding. Uncas had a sinking suspicion that he wasn't going to get out of this conversation just by hiding behind his sleepiness. "Why is this important anyway?"

"Just gauging how involved this relationship is," Magua answered, doing his classic arms folded over the chest gesture, "especially in lieu of what's just happened."

"Well, I'm not proposing if that's what you're worried about." Uncas told the other man as he leaned his head against the door frame. Christ on high, he was tired.

Magua didn't say anything to that. He just looked at Uncas a little while longer before muttering a 'we'll see' as he descended the stairs. Uncas shut the door and turned off the porch light with a sigh. Nate had returned to his room sometime during the conversation with Magua so Uncas did a cursory clean up before returning to his bed room. He moved Ali's now cleaner clothes to the dryer before allowing himself to return to his room.

Ali had curled up in a fetal position on her side. As quietly as he could, he stripped down to his boxers before climbing in next to her. He pulled her in against him and took in a deep breath, smelling the scent of her hair. He supposed they would have to talk about what she wanted to do when she woke up in the morning. Would she want to go back to that empty apartment? Would she want her own place? She could stay with him if she wanted; he wasn't going to toss her out into the street. Was it odd that he was willing to mover her in after so short a courtship? These were questions he couldn't answer. He fell into an exhausted sleep with all of them still ringing in his ears.

Author's notes:

(I ended up combining some scenes here because it made it easier plot wise. Originally, Ali's father dying was a separate scene where she comes home and trips over him, knocking her head on the counter. Then after all the 'dad is dead' stuff was taken care of she was going to go to Uncas' who was going to see the bruise and do the whole 'I'll kill him' thing, thinking he hit her. I decided to have the altercation with dad scene coincide with the dad dies scene. It takes away to many self-indulgent sappy moments and opens me up plot wise for things that I still need to get to.

Her father was also originally going to die from drinking rubbing alcohol, but the more I thought about that, the more stupid it sounded. One, drinking rubbing alcohol burns like crap so you have to really WANT to do it get through the burn. Two, you tend to die from it more slowly than I was intending for him to die. If you manage to down the stuff you will usually pass out and then maybe you would go into cardiac arrest… but more than likely you would die slowly from the poisoning. Heart attack was quicker.

Plus there's a realism aspect to having him die from a heart attack vs the other and that's the life insurance policy bit that I will get to later (Not a huge spoiler, no one becomes rich or anything but he DOES have a life insurance policy). If he actually drank the rubbing alcohol that might be taken as suicide and then the policy wouldn't have to pay. there are usually clauses on stuff like that. Heart attack clears up any suicide issues.

Killing her dad will bring Cora home sooner, I need to get her here to start interacting with other characters and get the ball rolling on some things.)


	17. Chapter 17

Ali woke up before it was fully light outside. She sat up in the dim room that was not her own with a shuddery breath and ran her hands back through her disheveled blonde hair. She had been having a dream. In it, she had been racing down the fire escape, except the fire escape had gone on forever. She couldn't see the bottom grate that she knew _had _to be there but that she never seemed to find. She heard her father's heavy feet chasing her and so she had run faster, or she tried to, her legs had acted like they were racing through molasses. Then the sound had changed and there was a sick _thunking_ noise behind her. She had turned to see her father rolling; head over feet down the stairs toward her and as his heavier bulk was nearly upon her, his dead eyes had flicked to hers and he had whispered '_your fault'_. That was when she had woken up.

As Ali looked around what she was slowly coming to realize was Uncas' room, she only had the faintest recollection of what had happened the night before. Even the awful dream was fading from her memory as she glanced down at her bandaged hand. The bandage was what ultimately brought it all back to the surface. Ali remembered her confrontation with her father, the race down the fire escape, trudging through the rain and then running into Paul. She remembered the immense relief of seeing Uncas after such a long and arduous experience. Then she remembered the police officers words to her as Uncas was trying to lead her off to bed.

_The Coroner thinks he fell off the fire escape. It looks like a massive heart attack._

Ali hopped up from the bed and ran out the door, heading for the bathroom a little ways down the hall. She was going to be sick. She switched the light on, holding one hand over her mouth as she raced for the toilet. She dry heaved into it for a few minutes, as there was nothing on her stomach to throw up, and then closed the lid to lean against it. After the shaking receded, she climbed onto the lid to duck her head between her legs. She took as deep a breath as she could, considering her airways were still not at their best.

Her initial reaction to the news of her father's death had been a cold wave of shock. It was shock that was followed closely by guilt and under all that had been a wave of relief that she wouldn't have to take care of him anymore. It had all been too much for her overtaxed nerves to handle. She had shut down, fainted right there in front of Uncas, the cops, everyone. When Uncas had brought her back around a short time later she had still felt that nagging sense of relief.

It was the relief that had truly brought on her tears in his bedroom, not the grief that Uncas probably thought she was feeling for her dead father. My god, she was a horrible person, wasn't she? She chose to stay in that horrible situation, she resented Cora for being strong enough to leave and then she had the audacity to feel relief at his death. Shaking her head, Ali jumped up again and fled the bathroom; she went quietly out into the hall and finally made her way out onto the front porch.

Ali expected it to be cold when she stepped outside; part of it wanted it to be. She didn't feel like she _deserved_ to feel comfortable right now. She lowered herself onto the top porch step and stared out into the gray morning, trying to wrap her mind around the fact that her father was gone. She had thought that once he died, she would feel immense grief.

She had loved her father in spite of the fact that he could be so brutal. There was a time, back when she was young, that he had been loving and affectionate. Was the relief she felt because his long and trying existence was over or because she was free of the burden of looking after him? She didn't know. On the heels of her relief came more guilt and the two fought a duel for dominance in her heart.

Ali sat out there for a long time, until the sun fully came up and the night crickets vanished. She might have sat out there forever if the door hadn't opened and Uncas hadn't appeared. He stuck his head out first, then saw her sitting there and walked the rest of the way out onto the porch.

"Hi" he said quietly. "I woke up and you were gone, I got worried."

He was wearing some jeans but his chest was bare. Seeing Uncas brought back that sense of home and security she had felt the night before when Paul had brought her to his cabin. When had that happened? She knew she was in love with him but she hadn't fully appreciated what that _meant _until now. He had moved beyond just being the person she spent a great deal of time with and beyond being the only man she had been fully intimate with. He was like a safe haven in a storm. He was home for her.

"I couldn't sleep anymore." Ali mumbled as she turned to look back out at the road and the fallow field beyond. She heard his footfalls as he came over to lower himself down next to her.

"How are you holding up?" he asked her carefully. She wanted to laugh at the question but she thought that would make her look like a crazy person. Instead, she drew her knees up to her chest and rested her chin on them, hugging them with her arms.

"I feel things I shouldn't be feeling." she answered honestly. "I _should_ feel despondent or sad, but all I feel is relief." After she admitted this she gave a bitter laugh anyway and buried her face in her knees. "God, that makes me a horrible person, doesn't it?"

"Hey, hey," Uncas said as he laid a hand on the back of her head, "Ali, Ali, look at me!" Ali lifted her head and turned it to look at him, now laying her cheek against her knees. He kept his hand on her head and regarded her with a serious expression.

"You are _not_ a horrible person, ok?" he told her firmly. "He never made your life easier; I'd be more worried if you _didn't_ feel relieved."

"Were you relieved when your father died?" she countered glumly.

"A little but for different reasons," Uncas explained, "he was in a lot of pain toward the end; I was relieved he didn't have to feel that anymore."

"My father was chasing _me_ when he had that heart attack." she told him guiltily. "He was worked up because _I_ removed all the alcohol and money from the house. I feel like I killed him."

"You didn't," he told her reassuringly, "you wanted him to stop drinking, and that's all. You didn't cause him to have a heart attack just because you tried to get away from him or because you tried to save him from himself."

"I still have to go back there, don't I?" she groaned, remembering her cell phone that was still lying under the dumpster. There was still the mess he had left in the apartment to contend with, going to the hospital about his body. Alice shut her eyes and buried her face in her arms this time.

She didn't even know how to get a hold of Cora, the last time they had spoken her sister had called from a payphone. She probably hadn't gotten a new cell phone yet, how was Ali going to tell her what had happened?

"Not if you don't want to." Uncas' deep voice told her as he scooted over to put an arm around her shoulder. "You can stay here as long as you want."

She had to admit she found the idea appealing even if she wasn't sure it was a plausible one. She wasn't even sure it was something he _truly_ wanted. Ali thought he was offering because the events of the night before had frightened him as much as they had her, and because he wanted to protect her from having to deal with anything else if he could. She loved him for the sentiment but there was no way he could possibly protect her from her own thoughts. He couldn't protect her from her own guilt or her responsibilities.

"I have to find my cell phone." she mumbled with her face still pressed against her arms.

"That's easy enough." he said next to her. She lifted her head and ran her hands back through her tangled hair.

"Christ, I don't even know how to get a hold of Cora." she sighed.

"Do you have her boyfriend's number?" Uncas asked helpfully. Ali bit the inside of her lip and turned her hands in front of her as she thought.

"Maybe, if he hasn't changed cell phones. I know nothing about any of this, Uncas. What to do, who to call. Hell, I don't think papa knew enough people to warrant a funeral…not that we could afford one."

"Don't worry about it." he hushed her as his dark hands came out to grab her twisting one and stop them. She turned her eyes over to his and found them reassuring to look into. "You're not alone, all right? I'll help you. I doubt that the hospitals in town operate that much differently than they do here."

"Did you have to arrange everything for your dad?"

"A lot of it, Nate wasn't in any frame of mind to help with funeral stuff. My uncle did a lot too." he told her, looking away to stare at the field she had just been looking at. She laid her head in against his neck and followed his line of sight as he entwined their fingers.

"I love you, you know." Ali said quietly. He had heard it before, in several different ways, but this one was the most heartfelt for her. She had said it in a moment of desperation, when she was glad he wasn't hurt. She had said it sleepily, she had said it by way of goodbye, but this…this was the one that she felt like mattered the most.

"I know, I love you too." he replied and turned to kiss her head.

"You're my home." she continued, telling him what she couldn't the night before. She looked at their fingers, the entwining of light and dark and found it somehow poetic.

"Even if I'm poor as shit and have very little to offer you in terms of security?" he quipped, grinning at her softly. His tone was teasing but there was also a hint of seriousness lacing its way through the words. She snuggled in against his neck and drew in the smell of paint and wood that was all him.

"Money's not everything." She reminded him, sighing.

"Yeah, but it helps."

They sat out there a while longer, before he enticed her back inside with the promise of coffee. They were drinking it in silence when his phone rang. He spoke to who she assumed was Sinopa for a while before writing down an address on a piece of paper. Once this was done he said goodbye and then disappeared into the utility room. He came back with her now clean and dry clothes and handed them to her.

"Sinopa just gave me the address for where you can get a breathing treatment. Get dressed and I'll take you over."

Ali did as he asked because being told what to do felt better than having to make any decisions on her own. She wanted to hide with him all day and not face anything the outside world had to offer, but she knew that was not going to be possible.

The breathing treatment itself took place at a small Clinic in the town of Browning. There was no one in the waiting room when they arrived so after she finished filling out the necessary paperwork she was led into a tiny examination room. Ali hadn't had a breathing treatment in a while, but was glad she did as it loosened up her airways remarkably. She sat in front of the nebulizer with her mouth over the cup while the medicine vaporized its way into her lungs. The procedure itself only took about ten minutes but when they exited the clinic she had to admit that being able to breathe helped lift her spirits.

Then they had to go to Saint Andrews and claim her father's body. That was more draining than she thought it would be. There were endless forms to sign, calls to be made, and decision's that she didn't want to make. Uncas was a god send; he helped her meander the confusing and potentially expensive world of body arrangements.

Ali chose cremation in the end because it was the cheaper option than buying a plot. She forwent a funeral because she couldn't afford one and it wasn't worth it to hold a service that would only be attended by herself and her sister, possibly Uncas if he wanted to be there for her. No, cremating him and finding a nice place to spread the ashes sounded like the best option. All in all, the whole thing was going to put her out about 1,300 dollars for the cremation and urn. She would put it on the emergency credit card, she decided. If Cora wanted to, or could, put anything forth for it, they would talk about it later.

The final thing they did was return to the apartment to search of her cell. Uncas found it under the dumpster and hauled it out for her with his longer arm. The dumpster had protected it from the weather but there was a deep crack running through the screen. Ali turned it on and frowned as the screen flashed and blipped, obviously too damaged to be of any use.

"I think this thing's done for." Ali commented dryly as the screen flashed and jumped before she turned it off.

"Is the SIM card intact?" Uncas asked as he took the thing out of her hands and opened the back.

"I don't know, does it matter?" Ali queried as he pulled out a tiny white rectangle that looked like a little microchip.

"Well, it's the difference between having to buy you a completely new phone or not." He muttered as he stared at the SIM card, looking for damage.

"What do you mean?" she asked, walking over to see what he was doing.

"I have my dad's old phone at home; if your SIM card is compatible and undamaged you can use that. All you'd have to do is let your cell company know that you've got a phone with a different ID number. It would save you some money, anyway." he explained as he replaced the SIM card back in her busted up phone and handed it back to her.

"You'd be alright with my using it?" Ali asked, surprised. Uncas shrugged as they walked back around the building to the front door.

"It's just collecting dust in a drawer. Dad loved modern technology but didn't have the patience to learn how to use it. Nate and I pooled our money to get him that Android for Christmas and he barely touched it." he explained as Ali unlocked the front door.

"Wouldn't you or Nate want to use it?" she asked as they climbed the stairs. Again, Uncas shrugged.

"Honestly, neither of us could stand to look at it after he died. Better it gets used by you then sit in that drawer forever."

They made their way to her apartment door which was covered in yellow police tape. Seeing the tape made Ali stop up short and pull her coat in tighter against her. She suddenly didn't want to go in there, even to get a change of clothes to take back to Uncas'. He saw her hesitation and laid a hand on her shoulder.

"We don't have to do this right now if you don't want to." he offered.

Ali swallowed whatever she was feeling and shook her head. Putting this off wasn't going to help anything. Even if all she was coming back for today was clothes, she'd have to return another day to clean up or for the mail or for any other piddling thing that came up. No, she needed to buck up and do this.

She stepped away from him and set her jaw as she pushed the door in. In the cold light of day, the damage looked even worse than it had in the dark. Her father had destroyed anything that wasn't nailed to the ground. Even things they had brought with them from England, things that had been important to him, were upturned, knocked over, and broken.

Ali swallowed her tears as she stepped into the living room and saw pictures thrown everywhere. Even her sister's piano hadn't escaped his wrath. She picked her way over to it and ran her fingers along the giant scratch that ran across its front. There was a key missing from the right end section.

"Jesus!" Uncas swore from the doorway. "Please tell me he did this when you _weren't_ here."

"No, _uh,_" she sniffed back some tears, "It was…_um_," another deep breath, "It was like this when I got home. It was…Jesus Christ, I can't!" she gave a little sob and pushed herself away from the destruction of all the things that had been familiar to her. She moved quickly to the hallway and tried to get herself under control as Uncas picked his way over to her.

She grabbed him when he was nearby and buried her face in his chest. He held her while she cried over the loss of all the things that had reminded her of a better life. She even let out a few tears for the man that had, at one point in her life, attempted to love her; even though he hadn't done a very good job of it. When Ali was done crying, she pushed mutely away from Uncas and made her way to her bedroom where she silently packed some clothes into her duffle bag.

They left the apartment in silence. Ali watched the landscape as they drove back toward the reservation with her head pressed against the window. Uncas reached over to take her hand and she squeezed it to let him know she was still there. They didn't speak on the way back the cabin. Once they were inside he went to dig out his father's old cell phone as she slumped onto the couch with her head resting on the arm of it.

That was how Uncas found her when he came back out with his father's old phone. She wasn't aware of him covering her with a blanket or kissing her forehead. She wasn't aware of him putting her SIM card into his father's phone and searching for Duncan's number. She slept through him leaving a message identifying himself and asking Cora to call the number he left. Then he retreated to his studio to paint while she took an exhausted nap on the couch. She wasn't aware of anything for a blessedly long time.

Author's note:

(I didn't expect to get this chapter up today; I thought I would have to spend more time with it. I'm basing a lot of Ali's feelings of relief on a conversation I had with my mother about my grandmother. I wanted to show the dichotomy between feelings of relief and the guilt you feel for feeling relieved when someone dies. My grandmother never made my mom's life easier and we've talked about this feeling of 'FINALLY' that comes with being done and then the immediate guilt for feeling that way.

Hopefully, this comes across and doesn't make Ali look heartless. She's not. What she is is TIRED. She's been through a harrowing existence, not to mention experience, with her father and she's just happy to have it over. That's not to say that she didn't love him. She did but I think her life has been on hold with him for quite a while.

Now we get to move into the bigger bulk of the story, the happy yet hard decision making part of it. Its coming down to choice time on a few things but it will be a few chapters before I really get into that.

To answer a few questions people have asked in reviews: I will not be making Ali get pregnant in this story. I feel like I have done that to DEATH in my other fics and, this being a modern story, there's just no excuse for an unplanned pregnancy here. If I write other stories in this story world MAYBE I might get into that, but I don't currently have anything planned past this story for them. (That could change, I do kind of love this incarnation of them but no plans right now)

Another question was whether Duncan is coming back, and the answer to that is no. If I write a sequel to this it would be from Cora/Duncan/Nate's POV and would get more into what he's doing and how he feels but I don't have room for him in this narrative. Cora will talk about him some, and the state of their relationship, when I bring her back in the next few chapters.)


	18. Chapter 18

Uncas wasn't surprised when he walked back into the living room and found Ali sacked out on the couch. He assumed she hadn't have slept very well the night before and she had already spent a good portion of the day on emotionally upheaving funeral stuff, or body preparation details since they weren't having a funeral. He hadn't wanted to take her back to her apartment either; he didn't think she was ready to face the clean-up job her father had left for her yet. It looked like he had been correct too, what with her brief breakdown in the apartment's hallway. Still, she had needed clean clothes so there was no way around it.

Uncas covered her with a blanket and laid a kiss on her head before removing her SIM card from the busted phone and slipping it into his dad's little used one. The Android wouldn't be able to make calls until she switched the ID numbers on her account, but it would let him scroll through her contacts for Cora's boyfriend's number. He thumbed through the numbers until he found the only Duncan on the list, a Duncan Heyward, and punched the number into his own phone.

Uncas was dumped immediately into voicemail and had to decide quickly how much he wanted to reveal in a phone message. He settled for identifying himself as Alice's boyfriend and asking that Duncan have Cora call his cell. He repeated his number twice and added that it was regarding their father before hanging up. With that done, there wasn't much else to do but let Ali sleep. He decided he would wake her for dinner if she didn't wake up on her own before then and that he would use the time to catch up on some painting.

He finished up a few of the projects that had been left on the back burner and was just picking up a carving tool to work on some others when his phone vibrated in his back pocket. He pulled it out and didn't recognize the number or the area code.

"Hello?" Uncas said with a frown as he put the phone to his ear.

"Yes, is this a Mr…Adrian Blackstone?" a female voice asked as though she were looking at a piece of paper and squinting to read the handwriting. He knew it had to be Cora because of the slight Scottish undertone to her otherwise very proper British accent. Cora's voice had a different cadence to it than her sisters, though they both made the same inflections; Cora's was deeper than Ali's but not man-ish at all, it was more like the voice of an assertive and controlled female. Where Ali's voice was sweet and light, her sisters sounded loud and, he had to admit, sultrier.

"Yeah, hi." Uncas greeted awkwardly as he glanced over at Ali who was still sleeping soundly on his sofa.

"Yes, hello." Cora greeted politely. "Duncan said you left a message regarding my father, I don't mean to sound rude but, what is this about? Why isn't Ali calling?"

"Oh, she would have, but she's asleep right now. She had a pretty rough night last night." he hurried to explain and suddenly felt completely unqualified to be talking to Cora about this. "I'm calling because her phone is too busted up to make calls."

There was a heartbeat of silence before Cora grasped that something untoward had happened to her sister. He heard her take a deep breath on the other end before she spoke again.

"I think you need to tell me what's going on, Mr. Blackstone." Cora requested softly but firmly, her voice was still polite but there was an undercurrent of suspicion in her words. As they had never met or spoken until this moment, Uncas couldn't fathom what reason would she have to sound like she thought _he_ was responsible for what had happened?

"It…I…" Uncas stammered, not wanting to be the one to have to tell her father was dead. At the same time, he was loath to wake her sister up because Ali was finally getting some much needed rest. "Look, why don't I just get Ali." he finally offered, seeing no third option in sight. He began to walk toward the sofa.

"No, _you_ called _me_, and as you said, she had a rough night and needs to sleep." Cora reminded him with forced patience. "Now, please tell me why is my sister's phone 'busted up', as you put it, and what, in the name of _fuck_ happened to her?"

For some reason, Cora's clipped and patronizing tone set off his own irritation. He stopped halfway between kitchen and studio and glared at the front door as though it were somehow responsible for his current shift in mood. Uncas set his jaw and pressed the phone more firmly against his head.

"What _happened_ was that your father tried to choke her and she had to run down the fire escape to get away from him." Uncas told her more harshly than he should have. He didn't know what he expected Cora to say or do, but suddenly there was a loud curse and the sound of something breaking on the other end of the phone. It sounded as though she had thrown a glass or plate against the wall. Uncas jumped and pulled the phone away from his ear, staring at it.

"I'll kill him!" Cora's voice raged out of the ear piece, expressing the same sentiment he had the night before when he discovered the bruises lining Ali's neck. He was glad he removed the phone when he did because she was shouting now. "I'll come down there and choke _him_!"

"_Uh_, it wouldn't do you much good at this point." Uncas replied when he felt it was safe to put the phone back against his ear.

"Oh, really?" Cora countered tersely. "Tell me, Mr. Blackstone, what where you doing while our father was trying to choke my little sister? Off gambling and drinking with your _gommy_ cousin, I presume?"

If Uncas had been in a better state of mind, he would have realized that Cora was lashing out because he was the only one available to be angry at. As it was, he was operating on little sleep, residual fear for his girlfriend's safety, and his own guilt that he hadn't been there to protect her. Having Cora not only insinuate that whole sordid mess was _his_ fault _and_ that he was no better than his '_gommy cousin_' was more than he could handle at that moment. What the hell did _gommy_ mean, anyway?

"First off, I don't think we need to be comparing notes on who _is_ and _isn't_ here," he answered in a cold but controlled voice, "Second, you know nothing about me so let's not fling shit at each other until we've had more than one phone conversation, alright?" he took and deep breath and continued before she couldn't interrupt him. "Third, it wouldn't do you much good to come back down here with guns blazing because your father is already dead."

There was another heartbeat of silence in which Uncas immediately regretted his cold revelation of what had transpired. He was mad at the way she tried to lay blame on him for the incident, he was annoyed at the way in which Cora had spoken to him when he answered the phone, as though she didn't trust him for a minute, and he was pissed that she had forced him to tell her something that he felt her had no right to reveal. Still, none of that excused his lack of sensitivity in the way he told her of their father's passing.

"What?" she said quietly, her voice low enough to be a whisper. It was like someone had stuck a needle into her and all the anger had washed out. Uncas rubbed his face with one hand and lowered himself onto a stool, feeling like the world's biggest heel.

"He passed away last night." Uncas tried again, speaking more kindly this time. He heard a halting of breath on the other end as Cora internalized what he was telling her. He knew she was probably trying not to cry.

"How?" she asked in that same quiet whisper.

"The coroner said he had a heart attack." Uncas explained gently, leaving out that he had had it while chasing Ali and had fallen off the fire escape. Cora was quiet for so long that he thought she had hung up or that the call had been dropped. He said a questioning 'Hello' at one point just to ascertain if she was still there.

"I'm here." her dull voice responded. It was choked, full with emotion, probably all of them vying for dominance at the same time. Again, he felt like an ass for telling her the way he had. After a few more seconds of awkward silence, in which he listened to her breathe, she cleared her throat.

"Would you _uh_," she cleared her throat again and he was certain it was because she _was _crying now, "Would you mind waking my sister?" Her voice was hoarse on the other end and that hoarseness made him feel even worse.

"Look," he began contritely. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have told you like that."

"No, no, I was being very unkind to you." she replied before taking a shuddery breath. "I'm sorry for what I said about your cousin, and you're right, we don't know each other well enough to sling shit. I also apologize for making it sound like it was your responsibility to protect her. I never should have left her there with him."

Though Uncas agreed with her on that front, he wasn't going to vocalize it. She already sounded like she was beating herself up for it enough without him throwing in his two cents.

"I'll wake her up for you now." Uncas told her quietly as he stood up from the stool.

"Thank you." was all she said back.

He went quickly over to the couch and leaned over to lay a hand on Ali's shoulder.

"Ali?" he called softly as he gave her shoulders a gentle shake. "Wake up, baby, your sister's on the phone." Ali opened her eyes and blinked up at him. He held out the phone to her. She blinked at him for a minute more and then reached out for the phone. She sat up and pressed the phone to her ear with a tremulous 'Cora?' Uncas left her alone then, to talk to her sister privately, while he went to make himself busy elsewhere. About a half an hour later she appeared in his studio looking as though she had been crying. He put down the piece he had been carving and walked over to wrap his arms around her. She squeezed him back tightly.

"Is she coming home?" Uncas asked.

"Yeah, she's going to get on a bus tonight. She'll probably get in tomorrow night sometime." Ali explained and nuzzled her head in against his chest. "I told her she didn't have to do that since we're not having a funeral but I think she's worried about me."

"It'll help to have her here, believe me." Uncas told her reassuringly. "No one wants to go through things like this alone. Is her boyfriend coming with her?"

"I don't think so, she didn't mention it." Ali replied.

"Are you hungry?" Uncas asked after they stood there for a few more minutes. "We didn't get to eat lunch with everything that had to be done at the hospital.

Ali indicated she was could be persuaded to eat so he peeked into the fridge to see what could be thrown together to make a passable meal. She didn't eat as much of it as he would have liked but he could hardly force feed her and reminded himself that she wasn't likely to let herself starve. Once dinner was over they parked it in front of the TV until it was time to go to bed.

Over the next three days, Uncas would get to witness Ali's own personal grieving process, though it would take him a couple days, and a few curious moments, to recognize it as such. He would reflect upon how different it was from his own, but at the time, he was mostly just confused by it. The following morning, he woke up to find her gone again. He sat up in bed when he heard the light tinkling of music coming from the living room.

Yawning, Uncas padded his way down the hallway to find Ali twirling around the room to his mother's old 'Somewhere in Time' soundtrack. He hadn't heard this music in years and, coming around the corner, he half expected to see his mom cleaning the shelves and humming along. He was saddened to realize he could barely remember her face, aside from the pictures his father had kept of her. He had been eight when she died and he was fairly certain that if Chingachgook hadn't had himself and Nate to think about, that he would have followed her in death sooner.

His mom had been a horse vet, one of the few on the reservation. The night she died, she had been coming back from treating a horse with a broken leg on a neighboring ranch. The hospital told them she had fallen asleep at the wheel and crashed into a tree about 5 miles or so from their home. His father had avoided taking that particular road for years, taking the long way to work or his son's schools. Chingachgook had never completely recovered from her death.

Watching Ali dance to what Uncas considered his 'mom's music' was surreal for him. All he could do was stare at her, transfixed. Ali continued twirling around the living room with such an intense look of concentration on her face that she visibly jumped when she finished the turn and noticed him standing there.

"Sorry," he apologized sleepily when she started out of her routine, "I wasn't trying to scare you."

"Oh, did I wake you?" she asked guiltily. "I couldn't sleep anymore so I figured I'd warm up instead."

"No, you didn't wake me up." Uncas assured her as he continued his path into the living room, heading for the kitchen. He would have had to be up soon for work anyway, and he thought she had originally planned to rehearse at the performance hall all day. Was she still planning to do that after everything with her father? "You can keep dancing if you want, I'm just going to make some breakfast. Are you still planning to go to the performance hall this morning?"

"Well, Cora would say I shouldn't," she replied as she moved into what she had told him was that '_À la seconde'_ foot position, "but I think I could use the distraction." She twirled out into a pirouette.

"Well, whatever you think helps. Keeping busy is good sometimes." he commented as he pulled some eggs out of the fridge and picked up a skillet. He was just depositing the now scrambled eggs onto a plate when her arms came around him from behind.

He turned around and she came up on her tiptoes for a kiss. That was when he got his first clue that not everything was ok with her. One thing he could say about their relationship was that he knew how Ali kissed. There was a certain pattern to how it went when they made out that she tended to not vary from. First there was always a gentle intake of breath when their lips touched, followed by her molding herself in against him like a second skin.

Next came the slow opening of her mouth for his tongue and it went from there. This was not going the way it usually did. For one, the intake of air was not present, and when her arms came around him they had rigidness, a sharpness, that he was unaccustomed to. Her lips against his, which were normally soft and pliable, felt cold and desperate somehow. The kiss turned into a battle of the teeth rather than a kiss as she pressed her mouth against his with more force than was normal for her. He pulled back from the kiss as politely as he could.

"_Um_, as nice as this is," he lied, hoping she couldn't hear the discomfort under his voice, that kiss had _not_ been pleasant; "I need to eat this and get ready for work. You want some?"

The offer of breakfast saved him from having to explain his light rejection and he didn't give the incident anymore thought until later. He drove her to the performance hall and decided he would walk in with her this morning. He didn't know why he chose to do it _that_ day versus any other, maybe it was because her father had just died, or maybe it was because of their awkward encounter in the kitchen, but something made him go in that morning.

"You're late!" a dry female voice chastised from the left hand corner of the stage as soon as Ali was halfway through the auditorium doors. It came from a thin faced woman with shoulder length curly red hair. She had been discussing something with one of the male dancers when they walked in and now turned her shrewd eyes to regard Ali.

"Sorry, bad traffic."" Ali explained offhandedly as she pushed her duffle bag up onto the stage and tried to climb up the side like someone would a swimming pool. Uncas helped her get the rest of the way up and she thanked him quietly as she began undoing the buttons of her coat. Ali's voice was still hoarse from the choking she had received from her father and the thin woman didn't miss it.

"What's wrong with your voice?" the woman asked with narrowed eyes. Her voice was harsh and drew the attention of the others dancers that had previously just been milling about. They turned to look at Ali and the thin woman curiously. Uncas narrowed his eyes, not liking how this woman was talking to his girlfriend.

"Nothing, I'm fine." Ali told her as she undid her scarf and pulled it off, the finger bruises coming into sight in a wash of reddish purple flesh. The thin woman snapped to attention and stomped over.

"What the hell is that?" she demanded, standing in front of Ali who looked back at her in confusion.

"What's what?" the other girl responded, eyebrows going up.

"Your neck, you foolish girl, what have you done to yourself?" Ali's hand flew to her neck and she flushed red, apparently having forgotten the bruises were there. The thin woman pursed her lips and stepped forward to pull Al's hand away and study the injury, frowning irritably.

"The performance is in less than a week, you better hope the stage makeup can cover those." The woman chided her none too gently. "How could you let this happen?"

"Hey!" Uncas barked. The thin woman jumped at the sound of his voice and turned her steely hazel eyes down to look at him.

"Maybe you should be asking her _how_ it happened instead of blaming her for it?" he suggested angrily. The thin woman straightened again and placed her hands on her bony hips, glaring down at him like he was some kind of errant student.

"And who are you to tell _me_ what I should and shouldn't be concerned with?" she countered coldly.

"Someone who obviously cares a hell of a lot more about her than you do." Uncas spat back. The woman regarded him with an unreadable expression and Ali looked between them like someone who knew they should intervene but had no clue what to say to end the confrontation. Finally, the woman folded her thin arms over her chest and pierced him with an even stare.

"Fine," she responded in a clipped tone, "Mr. Indian-who-care-so-much, enlighten us? How did those bruises get on her? And I suggest you chose your words carefully because if I find even a hint that _you're_ the one responsible for them, I will not hesitate to have you taken out back and shot!"

They stared at each other from across that small space and something changed. It was probably imperceptible to the surrounding crowd, who simply watched the exchange like a tennis match. It was probably also imperceptible to Ali, who just looked horrified. Uncas realized, in the span of a few seconds, that the thin woman's harsh words to Ali had _not_ been those of someone who was mad about the injury being there, but more the reaction of someone unused to showing any type of affection. Her threat to him showed that she did, in fact, give a damn and would make sure whoever had hurt her dancer paid dearly. Uncas felt a smile of respect spreading over his face.

"Oh, I like her." he said to Ali who looked completely dumbfounded. The thin woman slowly started to smile back and lowered her arms from her chest. Uncas turned his amused face back to hers.

"She had an altercation with her father." he explained simply; he wasn't going to fill in any more details than necessary. That task he would leave to Ali, if she chose to tell them. The thin woman's face tightened as another man who was a bit taller and more staunchly built, walked out onto the stage.

"Julia?" he called questioningly. "Daylight is burning, why is no one in position? Am I to assume that everyone feels practice is unnecessary and opening night will go swimmingly if we stop rehearsing now?"

This question had the dancers that had gathered to watch the confrontation hurrying to their various parts of the stage. Except for Ali, who didn't seem to know what to do. The dark haired man walked up to look between the three of them, and much like Julia, zeroed in on Ali's neck.

"Good God, girl!" the man exclaimed, making Ali jump. "What in god's name happened to your neck?"

"Calm yourself, David." Julia said to him dryly "You'll give yourself a coronary." She inclined her head toward Uncas and David looked down at him red faced and angry. "No need to set off her Native here." Julia smiled at him to take any offense out of her words. David looked at Uncas a moment more before disregarding him. He turned his attention back to Julia.

"What is going on here?" he demanded, still angrily but he did lower his voice this time.

"Why don't you explain it Mr...?"

"Uncas." he supplied for her. Julia nodded and gestured for him to continue.

"It was her father." he answered simply.

"I see." David replied and placed his hands on his hips much like his partner had. These two seemed to mirror a lot of each other's gestures. Uncas assumed they were either married or siblings. "And I hope, for his sake, that he's rotting a in a jail cell right now because if he's not I'm going to kill him myself."

"Ok, enough!" Ali cried, suddenly finding her voice again. Her outburst drew the attention of everyone in the room. "Everyone just knock it off!"

Uncas, Julia and David all turned to regard her in faint surprise. She looked flustered and angry and Uncas realized that butting his nose into this issue had _maybe_ not been his smartest move. Still, he couldn't help it, they were talking to her like they cared more about the injury than they did about her and he had reacted.

"David, Julia, I'm fine." she told them tersely. "Yes, there was an altercation but no one need worry about it happening again because my father is gone! Alright, he's gone! Everyone can just chill the fuck out and leave me alone!" With that, Ali hauled up her duffle bag and stomped away across the stage. Uncas quickly hauled himself up onto the stage floor with a grunted 'Ali, wait' before Julia reached out to grab his upper arm in her surprisingly tight grip.

"Best let her have a moment, lover boy. Dancers are a dramatic lot by nature, you run after her now and she'll probably say something you'll both regret."

Whatever Julia saw on his face as he stared after Ali made her laugh and she slid her arm through his companionably as she led him further in stage.

"David, get them started on warm ups, will you?" Julia called over her shoulder as she led Uncas toward the back. He didn't know where they were going or why they were going there until the thin woman stopped so she could look him up and down appreciatively.

"_hmmmmm_, so you're the one that's been putting the dopey smile on her face." she commented, amusement lacing her somewhat arrogant voice. Uncas was glad it was dark backstage because he was fairly sure he was flushing red. "You've been a source of talk; I'll say that for you."

"I'm not that interesting." he mumbled, suddenly looking for a way to escape her scrutiny. Where had Ali gone? He looked around the woman to see the top of Ali's head as she angrily pulled a brush through her hair.

"Relax, dear." Julia laughed when she saw him trying to find an escape route. "I'm merely trying to figure out the lay of you. Ali's one of our more innocent dancers and, as she has no mother, I feel the need to fill that role. What is your profession?"

"I'm a firefighter." Uncas answered, feeling inadequate about his job for the first time ever. "I also paint." He added the last lamely.

"I see." she answered nodding. "So you're of an artistic mind, that's good." She was nodding her head as though she was an employer and he was applying for a job. He had to admit; he felt a less intimidated fighting the summer brushfires than he did under the eye of this wiry woman.

"_Um_, can I go now?" he asked sheepishly as she looked him up and down some more.

"Almost, a few more minutes." she answered him distractedly. "From your angry reaction to my inquiry about her neck, I'm to assume you are quite protective of our little _Odette._" Julia's head snapped up to look him in the face. He had to fight the urge to take a step back. So they used Paul's nickname for her too, huh?

"What are your intentions, Mr. Uncas?" Julia asked him pointedly.

"My…intentions?" he repeated stupidly. Julia looked at him impatiently.

"Yes, for Ali? Is she a fling, love of your life, what?"

"_Uh_, that's not really your business." he answered flatly. Again, Julia laughed.

"Oh, you poor, stupid man," Julia responded, shaking her head in amusement, "everything that goes on with my dancers is my business. If you are in love with her and intend to treat her as such then we'll get along fine but, "at this her eyes became dark and stared piercingly up into his "if all you are looking for is something to use and discard then I advise you to walk away now."

"Alright, enough!" Uncas said as he stepped around her. "Enough with the threats and the dramatic posturing, I just pissed my girlfriend off and I need to go make sure she even wants to see me again tonight. Yes, I love the girl and no, I am not using her. Are we done?"

Julia gave a dismissive hand gesture and Uncas leveled her with a harassed glare before he strode away from her as quickly as his long legs could carry him. Yet another reason why he didn't attend plays or musicals or anything else culturally relevant, the people tended to be very nosey. He made his way toward where he had seen Ali, a little ways toward the back of the stage, pulling her hair into a bun.

"How much trouble am I in?" he asked, making a nervous joke as he stopped a little short of her.

Ali turned to look at him with, at first, glaring blue eyes. He inwardly tensed, waiting for her to start yelling at him for sticking his nose in with her dance instructor, but her eyes slowly softened and she walked over to wrap her arms around his waist.

"You're not, I figure having to endure Julia's scrutiny is punishment enough." she replied with a little laugh.

"Yeah, she's kinda… scary. Is she always like that?" Uncas asked as Ali tilted her head up to look at him.

"Most of the time; she _does_ care though, despite how she comes off."

"I gathered that." he murmured, furrowing his brow at the memory of their awkward backstage encounter.

"Oh, dear, she threatened you didn't she?" Ali asked in sympathy.

"To be honest I don't really know what just happened." Uncas responded with a chuckle and then his eyes caught the clock on the back wall. He needed to go or risk being later for training.

"I gotta go." he told her as he planted a kiss on her head. "I work until 8:30, are you gonna be here that long?"

"I can ask Andi or Cassie for a ride if we finish sooner." she replied. "I'll take the bus if need be." He kissed her one more time and then hurried out of the performance hall with Julia's interested eyes burning into his back.

Their drills for counteracting brush fires were becoming more intense the closer they got to summer. He didn't have time to think any more about the awkward kiss with Ali from that morning _or_, further still, his awkward encounter with Julia at the performance hall. With the constant motions of dragging, running, lifting and pulling, he didn't have time to think of much of anything at all. The kiss was almost gone from his mind when the shift ended.

Then he was due for his shift on the logging crew and his concentration was all 'don't get crushed by a tree, don't die'. By the time that shift was done he was lucky he could remember five minutes ago, let alone whatever had happened the morning. He walked into the cabin to the smell of…cookies? Curious, he deposited his father's jacket over the sofa and walked into the kitchen to find Ali pulling a tray of something out of the oven. On the counter were enough cookies to feed people at a church event.

"Hi." he called and she turned to give a hasty reply as she set the tray on the stove. "_Uh_, why are we swimming in baked goods?" he asked as he picked up one from a plate. It looked like shortbread with cranberries and some kind of nut.

"I got back around six and got antsy." she said by way of explanation. "Cora's bus got delayed with some repairs so she probably won't get back until tomorrow at the soonest" By the looks of it she had gotten _very_ antsy. He didn't know what he was going to do with all these cookies. He supposed he could take them to the firehouse, the guys there never complained about having any kind of pastry.

"Did you clean?" he asked, looking around the living room area; It hadn't been untidy before, maybe a little dusty since neither himself nor Nate took the time to run a rag over anything. The wood surfaces gleamed and he could smell a hint of lemon. Even the floor looked like it had been mopped.

"Yeah, sorry. I just danced all day and had all this excess energy. I didn't move anything, I promise." She replied as she used a spatula to remove more cookies from the tray.

Uncas didn't know what to say to her. He certainly didn't mind that she had cleaned; she had done a better job than either he or his brother could have done, but this combined with all the cooking him a little worried. It felt like she was doing anything and everything she could to distract herself from feeling grief. The grief was going to come out sooner or later and the more she tried to run from it the worse it would be.

"Uh, Ali?" he began slowly, turning back to stare at her.

"hm?" she made the questioning noise in her throat as she deposited a cookie on a plate.

"How are you _dealing_ with everything that's happened?"

Ali paused in her motion of sliding another cookie onto a spatula as though he had pushed her pause button. Uncas could almost see the gears in her brain freeze for half a second before they started turning again.

"I'm fine." she replied softly and with no conviction.

"Ali-" he started again but she put down the spatula and walked past him abruptly.

"I need to take a shower." Ali mumbled as she passed him by and went quickly down the hall. He wanted to follow her but he had no clear idea of how to restart the conversation. He remembered this phase in the grieving process, how he had painted all the time. He remembered trying to block everything out with activity, so he could exhaust himself and not have to think. It hadn't worked for him and he was certain it wouldn't work for her. Still, it was obvious that she didn't want to discuss how she was feeling so he was forced to give up for the night.

They didn't speak anymore on the subject that night. In the morning, he took her to work at _Phillips_ and went to his first job of the day, with a decent number of the cookies in tow. He had been correct about the other firefighters appreciating the pastries and more power to them, as he wasn't the biggest fan of sweets. Nate had consumed a few for breakfast and was happy to have them, but the sheer number of cookies would just have gone to waste at his cabin. Uncas also took another huge canister of them to his shift on the logging crew and they too, were happy to consume them.

When he got home that evening, Ali was baking _again_ and had cleaned _again_. She told him that Cora's bus was still being worked on so it looked like she wouldn't get in until sometime the following day. Uncas once again tried to broach the subject of _why_ she was doing all this and once again she walked away from him. Giving up, he went to take a shower. Uncas had just crawled into bed and closed his eyes when he felt a shift on the mattress and Ali's weight settle over his lap.

He opened his eyes in surprise when her mouth came down over his in that same forceful manner of two mornings before. Ali grabbed his face with the same ridged posture and Uncas felt himself struggling instead of kissing her back. He took her wrists in his hands and pulled back from the kiss and gently as he could.

"Ali," he grunted as she tried to kiss him again. He forced himself into a sitting position which, in turn, forced her farther down his legs. "Stop, stop, stop."

She looked at him curiously, confused by his tone and obvious rejection. He still held her wrists in his hands as he tried to think of a way to tell her that what she wanted from him was _not_ going to fill the void any better than the cleaning or the baking or the dancing. He tried to think of a way to tell Ali that _he_ wasn't comfortable with sex that wouldn't mean what it should and that he didn't want to be left with the feeling that he had taken advantage of her.

"Ali," he began again, setting his jaw and fighting through the fear that he was about to embarrass her badly, "You have to stop." Her expression said she didn't quite understand his meaning so he tried again.

"All these things you keep doing, the obsessive cleaning and baking, the…whatever this was; it's not going to stave off the grief forever."

Ali sat back on his shins to stare at him in bafflement and he heaved a sigh. She probably didn't realize that what she had been doing for the last two days was distancing behavior. He didn't want her to think that he didn't _want_ to have sex with her but the truth was that he didn't want to do it like this. He wasn't sure how to communicate that without hurting her feelings.

"Baby, you're not even kissing the same way." he told her softly.

Her delicate eyebrows furrowed inward as she tried to make sense of his meaning.

"My kissing is different?" she repeated slowly.

"It…not how you normally kiss." Uncas tried to clarify but even to him it sounded lame.

"I don't understand." Ali said, shaking her head and narrowing her eyes some more. "How am I kissing differently?"

"Look, it's not so much the kissing itself that's the problem but the fact that you're using it as a means to hide from everything that's happened." he said, shifting gears.

"You think I'm trying to hide?" she repeated, sounding a little offended. "How is wanting to be with you hiding? Sex is a common occurrence for most couples, Uncas."

"Ali, you're doing everything you can to not feel the grief. Having sex with me to run from it is not going to make that go away."

She flushed and he knew that he had succeeded in embarrassing her. That had not been his intention but he didn't know any other way to get through to her that she was trying to do something they would both regret.

"Look, baby, I love you, ok?" he said, holding her hands together in front of them. "If I thought sex would help I would be on board with that but I think you would regret doing it just to stave off having to deal with this."

She wouldn't look at him; she looked at her hands where he held them between them. He wished she would say something, yell at him, agree with him, anything other than sit there and leave him alone in this awkward pause. After a few more seconds ali slowly slid off the bed and left the room. Uncas stared at the empty doorway and had to fight the urge to go after her. He didn't think it would help at this point; she probably needed time to be alone and think about what he had told her. He hoped she didn't take his rejection as plain just not wanting her.

She didn't come to bed for a long time, he woke up when he felt the mattress sink down behind him. He thought about rolling over and…what? Apologizing? It hadn't been a conversation that he could apologize for easily because he had meant what he said. He could apologize for embarrassing her he supposed but that might just make it worse. He laid there for a long time until sleep crept up on him again.

It was the shouting that woke him up a little before full light. He shot up in bed like an arrow and glanced around frantically. Ali wasn't next to him and the shouting he was hearing was very obviously her voice. He jumped out of bed and ran out the door all the while trying to tug his jeans up his legs. Nate stuck his head out of his room with a sleepy 'Whatthefuck' that was all jumbled together into one word. Uncas put a hand up to indicate he should stay where he was and tumbled outside onto the porch.

Ali was in the field across from the cabin, shouting at the grey morning sky in a rage. More specifically she was shouting at her father as though he were up there somewhere looking down at her.

"What do you want from me, huh?!" she bellowed. "You want me to feel guilty? Fine! I feel guilty!"

Uncas stopped halfway down the steps with the realization that Ali had now transitioned from the denial stage to the anger stage. His own anger stage had been like this, though admittedly a tad more destructive. The dents in his fender were not all there because the truck was older than dirt. He had taken a baseball bat to the fender when being a workaholic didn't make the grief disappear. Ali's phase looked a lot cheaper than his had been.

"You gonna send me nightmares until the end of time?" she shouted. "Will that make up for it you damn, bloody bastard?"

Anger and bargaining, looked like she was combining phases now. At least she appeared to be petering out. The shrieking was not as involved as it had been when he first stepped outside and he was suddenly glad there were no neighbors close by to have to explain this to. He would have been hard pressed to make them understand what was going on.

"Will that make it right?" she asked a little more weakly as she fell to her knees and hung her head, probably crying angry tears. "Will it?"

Ok, that was his cue to go get her. He walked down the cabin steps and across the street, stepping over old corn stalks as he went. As he suspected, Ali was crying quietly and occasionally repeating 'will it' between breaths. He reached down to take her upper arms into his hands and pulled her to her feet.

"C'mon baby, up you go." he said quietly as he snaked an arm around her shoulders. She went quietly but she kept her head lowered, hiding behind her curtain of pale hair. He didn't ask her what she was doing in the field and he didn't comment on the tears, he knew she wouldn't appreciate it if he did. He silently led her back into the house and shut the door sensibly behind them.

Authors note:

(Ok, this update is so late because I was determined to get everything I _wanted_ to happen in Uncas POV to _be_ in Uncas POV. That was a task, let me tell you. The conversation he had with Cora alone was a pain in my butt. XD The first time I wrote that section, they were so utterly antagonistic to each other that it was alarming. I must have rewritten that like six different times until I settled on what you read. I don't even know why they were being so irate with each other but I just had a horrible time getting everyone to tone down the angst.

Then there was the scene with Julia and David. I wanted to be able to show that those two _do_ care about their dancers; they just don't show it in an overly flowery fashion. They have a business to run first and foremost and I think that their little studio is not doing as well as they would like. They care about their dancers and they want their dancers to be in top form so having one that looks seriously mishandled is infuriating to them. I wanted Uncas to stand up for Ali with good intentions but to also show that he misunderstood David and Julia's intentions as well.

Then there was the grieving process which I kind of wanted to skip over completely. I didn't think that would make much sense if I did though. I'm going to be getting to the 'They actually HAVE sex' portion of this soon and it seemed weird to go from 'Well, dad's dead. Wanna get it on?' so, I decided to show a little of the denial/anger portion of the grieving process and dive a little into how Uncas dealt with it with his own father. It actually ended up being a pretty handy character development section.

Finally, the uncomfortable scene with Ali at the end; I think a lot of Uncas reaction to that was that no one wants to feel used. Uncas has already figured out that Ali's doing everything she can to not face her grief and that includes trying to have sex with him. He loves her, he certainly would like to cross that bridge, but he doesn't want to do it like that. He knows she wouldn't want to do it like that. He is trying to be a gentleman after all. XD

So thank you all for your patience and we'll see how long the next part takes :p)


	19. Chapter 19

Ali stared gloomily into the cup of coffee Uncas placed in front of her, her jaw set in a rigid lock. She wrapped her cold fingers around its middle but had yet to actually drink any of it. Uncas leaned against the opposite counter, saying nothing, and alternating between munching on a left over cookie and sipping his own coffee.

"I'm sorry," Ali said abruptly, when she couldn't take the silence anymore, "that I've been so weird the last couple of days."

"You don't need to apologize for going through the grieving process." Uncas responded when he swallowed the cookie he had been working on. "I went through it once too."

"Did you go out into a field and scream at the sky like a crazy person?" she asked skeptically, looking up at him.

"No, but I did take a baseball bat to the fender of my dad's car." he revealed, looking embarrassed.

Ali felt her eyebrows go up as Uncas sat his mug on the counter and walked over to pull out a stool. He sat down next to her and took a deep breath. He began to tell her about how, in the months following his father's death, he had completely thrown himself into work. It was hard to imagine Uncas working _more_ than he did now but, from the way he told it, he had. He told her of how he had gone to work in the morning, painted in the afternoon and once it was dark, he went straight to bed and repeated the process the next day.

"I don't know when everything changed but one day I just couldn't focus on painting anymore." Uncas continued, his eyes becoming far away with the memory. "I looked over there at the couch," he gestured over his shoulder with his thumb, "and at the surrounding room, and I realized that there wasn't one part of the cabin that wasn't him."

Uncas cupped his hands around each other on the counter top and looked at them as he struggled through whatever the memory brought up for him. If he had looked over at Ali, he would have seen that he had her rapt attention.

"I couldn't stand being in here a minute longer, so I grabbed the keys to the truck and went outside, planning to go anywhere but here." he said, finally turning his dark eyes to her lighter ones. "I saw the truck, the same truck he'd driven since I was ten, and I lost it. I grabbed the baseball bat we kept by the front door and I just started beating the ever living _shit_ out of that thing."

Uncas told her about how the car had suddenly morphed into the personification of his father and because his father wasn't there to be angry at anymore, he took all his rage out on the fender. He said he had hit the car until he petered out and just sat next to it bawling like a baby.

"I hadn't cried like that since mom died, I don't even think I cried when dad went, it all just came out in one big rush. When it was over all I had to show for it were a few dents you can still see in the fender, and a busted head light. I swear to god, it would take a nuclear explosion to destroy that truck, it'll probably still be sitting out there when I'm 80."

Ali had to laugh at the picture in her mind, of the truck looking exactly as it did now, still sitting out in the driveway while she and Uncas sat in rockers on the porch. Then she shook _that_ part of the picture from her mind, no need to jump the gun.

"So your 'anger' portion of the grieving process is turning out much cheaper than mine. That new headlight put me out $250.00." he finished with a smile.

"Well, it might be cheaper but I don't think it's necessarily better." she replied, sighing. "The nightmares are what brought today's spectacle on."

"Bad, huh?" he asked sympathetically.

"It depends on your definition," she answered, frowning, "they mostly just make me feel guilty."

The nightmares had started the night her father died and waited for her as soon as she closed her eyes at night. They were always the same too. She was running from him down the endless fire escape stairs, he would fall and as he tumbled toward her his raspy voice would tell her it was 'her fault.' Then she'd wake up. For the first two days, she did exactly what Uncas had said she was doing, she tried to block out all thought and feeling. When her cleaning and baking binge failed, she turned to intimacy, and when that was a no go, well, then the dreams just made her angry.

"You were right about what I was doing," Ali admitted quietly, "I really didn't want to face any of what happened."

"I'm sorry that I had to lay it all out there the way I did." he apologized. "I just couldn't find any way to say it _other_ than to just _say_ it."

"No, I needed to hear it and you're right about the sex too. I wouldn't have felt good doing it for that reason."

They were silent for a little while after she said this, each lost in their own thoughts and memories. Uncas must have idly glanced at the clock because his next words pulled her out of her reverie.

"Don't you have to be at _Phillips_ soon?" he asked her.

"John told me not to come back until I'd properly grieved," Ali told him laughing, "he caught me cleaning the salt and pepper shakers with Windex and staring into space. He informed me I was to take a few days off and 'sit with it'."

"Well, I have the morning off. When is Cora supposed to get in?"

"Mmmmmmm," Ali made the noise in her throat as she thought, "Cora thought that if the bus was able to leave this morning that she would get in sometime tonight." Ali tried to remember the last telephone conversation she had had with her sister. "I need to go clean up the apartment before she comes home too. It's another thing I've been avoiding."

"I can help. Between you, me and Nate, we can at least get the basic damaged stuff out." Uncas offered.

Ali nodded, grateful; she didn't relish the idea of trying to do all of that by herself. Uncas woke his brother and told him where they were going. The interesting thing about the way Uncas _asked_ for his brother's help is that he didn't actually _ask_ him for at all. Instead, he said to him 'We're going to Ali's to clean up,' to which Nate nodded and headed for the bathroom to get cleaned up. Even more surprising was that when Nate came out of his bedroom after getting dressed, he was on the phone with Paul uttering much the same words. He flipped the cell shut and declared. "Paul will be here to help in about 10 minutes."

"Paul's coming?" Ali asked, confused. "You didn't even ask him to."

Uncas and Nate blinked at her.

"Sure I did, you heard me ask him." Nate replied.

"No, you _told_ him where you were going. It's not the same thing."

Uncas and Nate looked at each other and then back at her and simultaneously started laughing. They said something to each other in Algonquian and laughed some more. Ali looked at them in confusion and a little affronted. She felt like they were making fun of her.

"Baby, that's _how_ people on the reservation ask for help." Uncas explained, smiling. "You tell someone where you're going and when you'll be there and it's like an unspoken request. By _agreeing_ to come here, Paul's _agreeing_ to help out."

"Why don't you just ask instead of hinting?" she queried.

"It's just the way it's done here. None of us question it because we've grown up understanding the rules." Nate replied shrugging. Ali still didn't quite understand how a culture functioned on such subtle form of communication but chose to keep that thought to herself. Paul showed up exactly when he said he would and they all crammed into Uncas truck to head for her apartment. Ali was doubly glad for the extra help once they arrived at the apartment because a lot of the furniture that had been busted up was too big for her to hope to move on her own.

Also, Nate being able to use only one arm made Paul's presence make that much more sense. Paul was more polite than she'd ever known him to be that morning. Speaking to her kindly and never once making a disparaging remark about her sister. Ali felt that her attitude toward Uncas' cousin was changing as well. After he had taken her to Uncas cabin that rainy night he had become less the monster Cora had made him out to be and more just a regular guy. Ali found she liked this version of Paul better than the one she'd seen previously.

"Well, this is toast." Paul muttered from the upturned coffee tables whose leg he was trying in vain to reattach. "If the break were cleaner I could fix it with some wood glue and nails but, nope. Sorry, _Odette_, I think she's done."

Even his nickname for her was no longer irritating. She just accepted it as something he called her. Ali gave him a grateful smile as she looked up from the bag that she and Nate were throwing broken glass and fractured wood pieces into.

"Thanks anyway for trying." Ali replied. Paul got up from the broken coffee table and walked over to Cora's scratched piano, running a hand along the gouge that had been put into the face of it.

"Now _this_ I might be able to fix for you, if you don't mind me running back to the Res for some tools?" the man offered.

"You don't have to do that," Ali told him as she straightened to crack her back, "you're doing enough already."

"Don't be fooled," Nate said quietly next to her, "He just trying to impress your sister with his carpentry skills." The room glared at him until he muttered 'what?'

"It's not the _only_ reason," Paul admitted defensively," Besides… I kind of owe her for how I acted when we broke up." He looked contrite when he said this and Ali felt bad on his behalf. He was right, he hadn't taken the break up well, but she thought he was on his way to making up for it, even if it was only to her.

"Why don't we carry this down to the dumpster and then you can take the truck to pick up whatever it is you need for the piano." Uncas offered. Paul nodded and together they carried the broken coffee table out the door.

The room looked better than when they had started. The floor was at least clear now in the living room and Nate had helped her put away the books and pictures that had been tossed about. Next there was Ali's bedroom to contend with, and she wasn't thrilled about having to go in there. Once Uncas returned, they made the uncomfortable journey down the hall. Seeing her room in such disarray made her angry all over again. This had been her space, god dammit, her things! He had had no right to destroy her stuff like that.

"You know what?" she said to the room, with her hands on her hips. "I take it back! I don't feel guilty anymore."

She turned around to take the plastic bag from Nate's hand and stomp into her bedroom with purpose. She reached down for a busted picture frame and angrily pulled the picture from it and slapped it onto of the dresser. The frame she tossed into the bag.

"I don't feel guilty anymore because I won't have to do _this_ ever again!" she declared as she threw a broken figurine into the bag. "I won't have to clean up anymore alcohol induced _messes._"

She threw a few other busted up trinkets into the bag. Uncas and Nate just stared at her while she ranted, neither knowing what to say so they said nothing.

"No more walking the streets of Easton at night to try and find his _sorry_ ass." Another thing tossed into the bag. "No more hiding in the bathroom when he thinks of something I did ten years ago that he feels the need to address."

"Ali." Uncas said her name as though to stop her angry tirade. He might has well have been talking to a brick wall.

"No more paying off his drinking debts at the local bars and no more _hiding_ my tips so he can't steal them!" this last part she nearly shouted, her chest heaving as she glared at her closet door. Ali felt Uncas hand on her shoulder; she hadn't even heard him move from the doorway. She laid one of her hands over his reassuringly. She opened her mouth to tell him she was all right when a familiar voice exclaimed from the doorway:

"_Fuck me backwards_, what the hell happened in here?"

There was only one person on the planet who knew how to use the word 'fuck' that creatively. Ali whirled around to see her sister standing in her doorway with a rolling suitcase by her feet and a jacket thrown over her arm. Cora's dark eyes took in the mess of her younger sister's room in utter bewilderment, her mouth hanging open.

"Cora!" Ali cried and ran over to thrown her arms around her sister; she accidently knocked Nate to the side as she did so. She nearly knocked Cora over as well, with the force of the hug. "I thought you weren't getting in until tonight?"

"The bus was ready to go late last night; they gave us the option of heading out then or waiting until morning for the next one. The majority of us were ready to go, so here I am." Cora replied, her eyes still scanning the torn apart bedroom.

Ali was so happy to see her sister she could have screamed, might have screamed if she hadn't suddenly remembered the two men standing in the room staring at them. She released Cora from the embrace and turned to introduce her to the others.

"Cora, this is Uncas." Ali said, gesturing to the tall man who had watched the reunion in bemusement. He came forward and held out his hand to shake Cora's with a polite 'nice to meet you.'

"Jesus, you're a tall one!" Cora exclaimed as she shook his hand and smiled up at him. Uncas laughed at the abrupt observation. "So, you're the one that's been looking after my sister."

"_Uh_, yeah." he answered shyly, rubbing the back of his neck. Ali turned and gestured to Nate next.

"This is his brother, Nate."

Nate was unabashedly staring at Cora as though she were a shiny new Trans Am. Ali couldn't blame him for this, as Cora was more than just a little attractive. Where Ali was blonde and petite, her sister was tall and dark haired. Her abundance of chestnut curls cascaded over her shoulders and down her back, stopping at her waist. Her eyes were a lovely shade of brown with gold flecks in them and set into a face with a slender nose, high cheekbones, and pouty lips. Cora could capture the attention of most men when she walked into a room.

Nate looked as though he had forgotten his own name and possibly where he was. He stared at Cora with his mouth hanging a little open and it took a throat clearing from Uncas to get him to pull his jaw off the floor. He gave himself a visible shake and came forward.

"Nate," the man said suddenly, as though his own name finally occurred to him, "Yes, Nate, that's me!" he walked forward to shake her hand with the one that wasn't in a sling.

"Good, glad we established that." Cora couldn't help but tease as she shook the offered hand. When he didn't release hers right away she grinned more broadly. "I need my hand back Mr. Blackstone."

"Right, sorry." Nate said, releasing her and stepping back. He looked embarrassed but he still smiled at her and Cora smiled back a few more minutes before looking around the room again.

"God, when you told me he had torn the place apart I thought you were exaggerating. Were you here when he did this?" Cora asked as she stepped into the room and spun in a slow circle to take it all in.

"No, thankfully," Ali answered, "he was had just finished destroying the living room when I came home. I had hoped to have this place cleaned up before you got home."

"Well, you did a great job in the front room; I didn't even notice anything untoward except that the coffee table is missing."

"Had to throw it out," Uncas explained apologetically as he and Nate went to pull the mattress back onto the bed frame, "it was too damaged to be salvageable."

"I'm afraid he marred up your piano too," Ali told Cora sadly when she had walked over to her, "But Paul thinks he can fix it."

"_Hmph_, I don't need anything from _him_." her sister scoffed indignantly.

"Cora, don't be rude. He's been here helping all morning." Ali chastised quietly. "He's been trying really hard to be better lately."

"I'll believe _that_ when I see it." Cora mumbled as she walked back to the hallway to take her suitcase to her old room. Ali stared after her, frowning; they might have a problem on their hands when Paul showed back up if Cora was feeling petulant. Her sister had a temper and once it was ignited it could be difficult to diffuse. She also had a tendency to never forget a wrong or slight done to her. Hopefully Cora would make an effort to rein all that in.

Her sister returned a few minutes later and began helping Ali redeposit all her fallen books back on the shelf and refold the clothes that had been tossed about the room. Within about half an hour they had the room looking much more together than it had been, if a little sparse on decoration since a great deal of it had been broken.

"Anything to drink in the fridge, Ali?" Cora asked as she pulled her rainfall of hair on top of her head in a ponytail. Even pulled up like that, it still fell to about the middle of her back.

"There might be some soda pop, I don't know. I haven't been here for several days." she admitted and blushed when she realized how that sounded. Cora gave her a knowing look but didn't say anything as they filtered back out into the hallway.

"Well, maybe we can have some soda and Pizza delivered, you boys deserve something for all this work." Cora told them, grinning. Ali had missed her sister's easy and outgoing presence. A positive thing she could say about Cora was that she could make friends with anybody, and usually did. When she liked you she was one of the most generous people on the planet.

Her sister went so still once they had reached end of the hallway that Ali almost ran into her. She looked around her sister's form curiously to see Paul's back as worked on Cora's piano. She felt, rather than saw her sister's fists clench at her side.

"Jesus suffering fuck, what are you doing?" Cora demanded. Paul looked over his shoulder in surprise at the harsh words and started.

"Cora, language!" Ali admonished as she stepped around her suspicious, glaring sister. Paul, for his part, looked like a deer caught in the headlights. They hadn't even heard him come back in as they had been so busy working on her bedroom. "I already told you that he went to get stuff to fix the piano. Please be nice, he is helping us, after all."

Paul and Cora stared at each other from across the room with very different expressions. Cora's was all suspicion laced with anger and Paul's was trepidation laced with guilt. He didn't know what Cora would say next and looked like he was afraid she'd kick him out. It was a valid fear; Cora looked ready to do so.

"Hi." Paul said to her quietly. Cora didn't lose the tense posture but she did give him a curt nod. There was another awkward moment of silence in which Paul fidgeted under her gaze and then inclined his head toward the piano. "_Um_, I'm filling in the gouge with some wood putty, I just need to buffer it down and then add a varnish. It won't look perfect but once I put some stain over it; it won't look like someone keyed it anymore either."

Cora blinked at him in surprise. "Thank you." she said quietly, she when she seemingly found her voice again. To give her sister her due, she said it more politely than Ali expected. Cora loved that piano; it was the only thing she had insisted they bring with them from England. She had wanted to be a concert pianist but learned quickly that 'artsy degree's' didn't pay the bills; she had settled for a degree in sociology instead.

Paul inclined his head, accepting her thanks and turned back to what he was doing when they walked in. Cora also turned away and walked into the kitchen where she picked up the phone to order the pizza she had offered the guys. Ali walked over to kneel down next to Paul.

"I'm sorry," she apologized, "She surprised us too; I didn't expect her home until tonight. I wouldn't have put you in that situation intentionally."

"It's alright, I earned it." Paul sighed as he picked up a small tub of something gray; he scrapped the contents on to a flat plastic tool that looked like a comb with no teeth. Then he scrapped the tool along the gouge in the piano face.

"Still, you are helping us. I know she's grateful, even if she doesn't show it."

"I should probably still take off after this anyway." Paul responded as he smoothed over the paste like substance." I'll try to come back and stain this another day. The panel will have to be removed to make it go on smoothly without leaving track marks." He looked at his watch and frowned. "I'm due on the Rig in about an hour, so I gotta bail."

"I didn't know you worked at one of the Rigs." Ali commented surprised. There were 643 producing oil wells on the reservation, according to Uncas, and at least 47 producing gas wells. It was one of the more coveted positions as it paid about $77,000 a year and didn't require a college education. Paul was lucky to have such a job. The dark haired man managed a small grin for her.

"_Odett_e, they could write a book about what people don't know about me!" he quipped. His tone was light and teasing so she took no offense to the words and conceded he was probably right. He smiled back at her a moment longer before climbing to his feet and declaring it was time for him to go.

"You need me to give you a lift back, dude? It's a bit of a haul from here?" Uncas offered. Paul nodded his head gratefully. Uncas came over to plant a kiss on Ali's head, claiming he would be back soon. Surprisingly, Cora's voice stopped them at the door.

"You don't have to run off, Paul." she told him. Her voice was tight but her words were sincere enough. "I just ordered lunch; you're welcome to stay for it."

"_Oh_, _uh_, that's ok," he begged off politely. "I _uh_, have to be at work soon but, "he cleared his throat nervously, "thanks anyway. I'll come back another day to stain that." He gestured at the piano with his thumb. Cora nodded her head in ascent and he nodded back before hurrying out into the hallway. Ali gave her sister a grateful smile and walked over to hug her companionably around the waist.

"Thank you." she whispered. Cora patted her arm but said nothing.

Uncas returned about the same time the pizza arrived and the four of them sat on the floor of the living room with the box between them. Nate was telling some story about how he used to crawl on the roof of the cabin as a teenager and bang around up there to annoy his and Uncas dad. He had Cora in stiches as she covered her mouth and laughed around the mouthful of pizza.

"Dad thought we had Raccoons in the attic," Uncas added when everyone stopped laughing to take a breath, "He would go up there and stumble around trying to find the damn things and this asshole, "he pushed a finger against Nate's arm, "would sit on the roof making the occasional noise and sending dad on a wild goose chase."

"Remember when he convinced himself we were haunted and brought in that medicine man to smudge the cabin?" Nate asked and Uncas groaned at the memory.

"Oh my god, Yes!" he crowed. "The whole house smelled like weed for a week, it was awful!"

"Jesus fuck, that's hilarious!" Cora laughed when she was able to both breathe and chew again. "How did he find you out?"

"Well, "Nate said as he took a bite of his slice of pizza, "I kind of left the ladder in a not so hidden spot and dad found it."

"yeah, and then he snuck up behind you," Uncas filled in, grinning at his brother good naturedly, "Nate fell off the roof," this was said to Cora, "when dad hit him with the broom and then our dad jumped off after him! I don't even think he cared how high it was either; he was just determined to beat the hell out of him with that thing."

"Not one of my more graceful moments." Nate said with a wink at Cora.

"Well, I think its brilliant," she told him, "Definitely one of the funnier things I've heard in a while." Nate looked pleased with the compliment.

They ate and chatted until it was time for Uncas to head back to the reservation for his shift in logging. Alice walked him to the door while Cora went to take a shower and change into some less sweaty clothes.

"You gonna stay here tonight?" Uncas asked her.

"I probably should, since Cora's home." Ali told him sadly. She didn't want to stay in the apartment at all, truth be told, it held nothing but unpleasant memories now. Still, it would be rude for her to run off and leave Cora all by herself. Plus, she really did want to spend some alone time with her sister.

"Alright, I'll call you tonight when my shift ends." he said, leaning in to kiss her.

"Love you!" she called down the hall when he and Nate had walked away. Ali heard his reply from down the stair well and closed the apartment door, grinning.

"Well," Cora's voice drawled from the hallway, Ali jumped and turned about to see her standing there in a robe with her hair hidden in a towel that was wrapped around her head, "The relationship is more serious than I thought."

"Look, I know you don't approve." Ali said cautiously as she walked further into the room. "But he really isn't like his cousin at all."

"Stop!" Cora said, putting up a hand. Ali stopped talking to regard her sister curiously. "You don't have to justify anything to me, Ali. God know I'm not in a position to judge any ones love life right now."

"I take it that things with Duncan aren't great?" Ali asked, grasping the meaning of her sister's words quickly. Cora's mouth tightened and she didn't answer.

"Are you two fighting?" she continued, speaking gently.

"Fighting would at least be _something,_" her sister sighed, rubbing her forehead wearily, "Duncan works all the time so I don't see him enough to fight with him."

"I'm sorry." Ali responded quietly. Cora rallied after a few seconds of forlorn frowning and smiled at her.

"Don't worry about it, I'll be fine, I always am. Let me get my hair dry and we'll talk."

Cora went back down the hall to her old bedroom and disappeared inside. Ali went to sit on the couch and stare out the sliding glass door at the adjacent complex. She was lost in thought when Cora came back out and flopped down next to her on the couch. Ali turned to look at her sister as she was tucking her long legs under her.

"So, tell me about your Indian?" Cora prompted, grinning with sisterly curiosity.

Ali laughed and filled her in on everything that had happened in the past month. Cora listened quietly, as she always had; only occasionally uttering an '_mmhmm_' or a gasp at the appropriate intervals. When Ali finished telling about the night their father died, Cora looked thoughtful.

"Wow, if Paul had shown me that side of him when we were dating, I might have held out longer." she commented. Ali leaned her head against the sofa and studied her sister's dark eyes.

"Were you in love with him?" she asked this hesitatingly. She hadn't thought her sister's feelings for Paul had run that deep, but then again, Cora wasn't always forthcoming about how she felt about any of the men she dated. Cora looked taken aback by the question and then took on a thoughtful expression.

"I don't think 'love' is the word I would use," her sister corrected, "infatuated with, maybe? In lust with? I don't know. Paul was charming in the beginning, great in bed, but it turned out that _that_ was all we had. I ended it before he figured that out too."

Ok, now Cora was oversharing. Ali knew her sister wasn't a virgin, she hadn't been since about the age of eighteen, but hearing it put so bluntly was uncomfortable. Ali felt her face flush red at the thought of her sister and Paul wrapped in a sweaty tangle of limbs and when Cora saw her face, she let out a bark of laughter.

"Oh, c'mon," she teased, "after what you told me you've gotten up to with Uncas you're going to sit there and blush like a school girl!"

"We haven't actually…completed the act yet." Ali revealed, still blushing.

"Why, in god's name, not?" Cora demanded with a raised eyebrow. "You're clearly in love with him; he's in love with you, what's the hold up?"

"This coming from the woman who encouraged me to _end_ it when I first told her about him?" Ali countered. Cora stopped laughing to look down at her nicely buffed nails sheepishly.

"I was wrong on that one." she muttered contritely. "I was pushing my own preconceived notions onto the situation. He's nothing like his cousin, you were right."

She saw her sister's expression and realized that more was going on with Cora than her just realizing she was wrong about Uncas. She looked sad, desperately so, and Ali had a feeling that there was more to that sadness than their father's death.

"How are you _really _doing, Cor?" Ali asked her, using the childhood nickname and trying to speak in a way that showed she wasn't trying to pry. If she pushed too hard, Cora would shut down and not tell her anything. "And I don't just mean with Papa's death. How are things with you and Duncan when you do see each other?

"They're stagnant." Cora responded dryly, making a face. "I wasn't lying when I said we never see each other, but the other problem is that when we do, we have no chemistry. I certainly wouldn't have been yelling 'love you' down the hall to him the way you just did. I left with him, thinking a nice guy would make things better. Looks like I traded one bad situation for another."

"Do you want to come home?" Ali asked her. She wouldn't complain if her sister decided to come back, she missed her. With their father being gone, the apartment would just be a big empty space full of bad memories. With Cora there at least it would be bearable.

"I'm locked into a lease until summer, I have a new job. If I leave now, I'll have to pay a shit ton for breaking the lease early." Cora said with a sigh.

"Did you find a teaching job, then?" Ali asked. Her sister had tried in vain to get a teaching position in and around Easton when she was still living with them. She even tried a few community colleges in the surrounding area but no one needed or wanted sociology teachers. It was then that Cora discovered her 'more useful degree' was not so useful after all.

"Nope, department store. _Again_." Cora responded with a tired smile. "Turns out Texas doesn't need Sociology teachers any more than Montana did."

They were silent for a few moments, each thinking their own private thoughts. Ali was still musing over the apartment and what to do with it if Cora wasn't planning to come home and stay. There was no point in keeping the larger space for just her. She could switch to a one bedroom, she supposed, but she barely spent any time at home as it was.

"What about you?" Cora asked as though she had read Ali's thoughts. "What will you do now that Papa's gone and I'm in another state? Move into a smaller place?"

"I could." Ali answered evasively.

"But?" Cora prompted.

"I already stay at Uncas most of the time. I'm considering just not renewing the lease and moving to the reservation with him." she admitted and then looked down. She knew how that sounded especially considering that they hadn't been dating that long. He had told her she could stay as long as she wanted and she was spending the majority of her time at the cabin. Was it really that much of a leap to move in?

"I…" Cora started slowly, as though she were choosing her words carefully, "I wouldn't advise that, Ali."

"Cora, I'm already there the majority of the time." Ali argued back.

"I know, but hear me out?" her sister said and held up a hand to stop any further arguments. Ali shut her mouth and tried to make herself listen patiently. "You've only been seeing this guy for… what, a month now?" Ali nodded. "Ok, right now you have somewhere to go if things turn sour. What if you suddenly break up and you're stuck out there? It's not a good situation to be in, believe me. Keep your own place for a while, a month is really soon to start shaking up together."

Ali had to admit that Cora was right even if she didn't say it out loud. There was value to these words that she hadn't initially considered when she thought about taking Uncas up on his offer. She couldn't do anything with the current apartment until June anyway, not unless she wanted to spend the 'shit ton' Core mentioned to break the Lease. It gave her some time to think about things anyway.

"So, what about Papa's ashes?" Cora said, sensing it was time to change the subject. "What are we going to do with them?

"I have to pick them up from the funeral home tomorrow." Ali answered, dreading _that_ task. "From there, I have no idea." She didn't like the idea of keeping her father's remains in the same space she was supposed to sleep in, but she didn't know what else to do with him either. She certainly wasn't going to dump him out along a highway or in a dumpster. She might be mad at him but that just seemed cruel.

"You always were better with him than I was, more compassionate." Cora said sadly, making Ali look over at her. "I'd just dump him out wherever and be done with it. Maybe that's why he favored you."

"Favored me?" Ali repeated, confused. "Papa didn't favor me, Cora. It was _you_ he loved best. When you left he kept asking when you were coming back and getting mad at me for not _being_ you."

"No, Ali. I was just the one he expected to take care of everything. You, him, the finances, I didn't just leave because he was violent. I left because I couldn't take the pressure of living up to that expectation anymore."

"I don't understand," Ali said as she narrowed her eyes and shook her head, "What are you trying to tell me here? I thought you decided to go after he attacked you with the broom. You sat outside and _told_ me that was why you were leaving."

"That was one of _many_ reasons." Cora admitted, looking away. "It was just the straw that broke the camel's back. Remember how I told you that I gave up on being a Concert Pianist because it was a useless degree?" Ali nodded. "Well, that was only partially true. The other reason was that Papa said I needed to 'Look after the family' and a music degree wouldn't cut it."

"You never told me any of this."

"Why would I, it was you he was thinking of?" Cora snapped back. "And he wasn't wrong about the degree either. I'm not good enough to have any kind of future as a Pianist."

"Cora, you play beautifully-" Ali tried to argue but a sharp look from Cora stopped her.

"I don't have the long term training needed to be a Concert Pianist; Papa cut all that off back in England so that _you_ dance." Cora retorted, sounding resentful. Ali stared at her as though struck; she hadn't known any of this. She remembered when Cora had stopped playing as frequently, but she thought that had been due to not having the money to continue, not because their father had chosen to support Ali's career instead Cora's. Her sister took a deep breath and ran a hand back through her abundance of curls.

"I tried, Ali." she said tiredly. "I tried to tell myself it was all for the best, that at least one of us got to do what they loved, but the longer it went on, the more cheated I started to feel felt. It was never enough, nothing I did was ever enough for him."

_ So you left him for me to look after instead_, Ali thought bitterly. Then she regretted the thought because Cora _had_ tried to take Ali with her. She was the one who decided she couldn't go. Still, learning all this from Cora was a shock to her system and it was making her re-evaluate every interaction she had ever had with their father. He had cut Cora off from her dream so his youngest could dance. What did that mean? She had always though their father hated her because their mother had died giving birth to her. She didn't know what to do with this new knowledge.

"Did you resent me for what he did?" Ali finally asked timidly. She didn't think she could take it if Cora said yes but she couldn't _not_ ask the question either.

"Maybe once, when we were children, but not any time in recent years," Cora reassured her with a sad smile, "It wasn't your fault he loved you more. I think a lot of it had to do with the fact that you look so much like mum. You act like her too. I was always more like him and that's why we butted heads so often."

"I think I resented you too, a little, after you left," Ali admitted guiltily, "even though I chose to stay behind with him. It was a nightmare trying to care for that man. Knowing all this, I can understand why you couldn't do it anymore."

"I still shouldn't have left you all alone with him. If I hadn't been so desperate to leave I probably would have tried to make you come with me; I will always regret not doing that." Cora answered just as guiltily.

"You couldn't have _forced_ me to go with you, Cora. I have a life here, my dance company is here, now Uncas is here, you can't own that guilt forever. Besides, Papa's gone now and we both need to find some form of closure."

"Oh yeah, and how do you propose we do that?" Cora asked her skeptically.

"Well, tomorrow I need to put some time in at the performance hall, then we are going to pick up his ashes from the funeral home," Ali began as the plan formed in her mind, "We are going to take him to Phillips for a _proper_ sendoff. He'll just have to deal with the fact that it'll be an Irish one instead of a Scottish one." Cora laughed at that. "And _then_ we're going to take him to the lake at the reservation. I know he never went there when he was alive but it's a peaceful place, a good final resting spot."

"See, still kinder than anything I could have come up with." Cora replied, impressed.

The next morning, they did just as Ali said they would. She woke up early and ate cold pizza for breakfast before going to rehearse for a few hours. Then she and Cora went to the funeral home to collect Edmund Munro's ashes. The urn Ali had chosen was simple enough, not much more than a thick plastic, brown box. His ashes were in a plastic bag inside. With box in tow, they took the bus to the immigrant section of Easton and walked through the front door of _Phillips_. John looked up in vague surprise to see Ali walking in but his face lit up in pleasure when he saw Cora.

"Saints preserve us!" he crowed as he came around the bar to hug her. "When did you get back in town? Jack!" he called over his shoulder and the fry cook stuck his head out the door. "Look whose come home?"

"Is that Miss Cora Munro?" Jack called coming out into the restaurant area with a big grin on his face. Jack always had a not so secret crush on Cora but was always too shy to do anything about it. He came over to hug her as well.

"Hello, boys." Cora greeted them warmly, smiling at the two men. "You look just as handsome as ever."

"Are you back to stay, then?" Jack asked her hopefully and then glanced around them toward the door. "Is Dunan with you?"

"No, he's still in Texas." Cora answered, her face tightening. "I leave tomorrow, I'm afraid. I have a job to get back to but I couldn't leave without seeing you both."

"We just came from picking up Papa's ashes." Ali explained, holding up the box. "We're not having a funeral since he doesn't know anyone here but I was hoping you might know a thing or two about giving someone a proper send off, John?"

John smiled at her and then walked around both girls to flip the sign to closed. Then he pulled all the shades and turned back to them with his hands on his hips.

"Jack, be a lad and go to my office," He said to the younger man who looked at him in surprise, "There's a bottle of scotch in the cabinet." Jack grinned knowingly and disappeared into the kitchen once again. John turned to the girls and gave them a sad, apologetic smile.

"Now, I know with you Da' being an alcoholic that having a drink in his honor seems a tad inappropriate, but this is how we do things in Ireland so I hope you'll forgive me."

"I don't think he would have had it any other way, John." Cora replied as Jack reappeared with the bottle of scotch under his arm. He handed it to John and went to retrieve some of the smaller glasses from the clean bin nearby. John poured a little bit of amber liquid into each of the four glasses and handed them around. Once everyone had their portion, Ali placed the urn on the bar and john held his glass out toward it.

"May your soul already be in heaven an hour, Edmund Munro, before the devil knows your dead." he toasted.

"_S__láinte!_" Jack followed and then downed his drink, the room followed suite. The words were Gaelic for_To Your Health._

After the toast they spent a little bit of time talking companionably. Cora told them about how Duncan had found a job as a sous chef at a nice restaurant in Waco, and how she was, once again, working the department circuit.

"You could always come back and work for me, girl." John teased her amiably. Cora laughed and patted his arm affectionately. Ali thought back to when they had all worked together, herself, Cora and Duncan. John had hired Duncan on as an 'apprentice' fry chef, giving him his first real restaurant position. He had studied under Jack until he got the better position in the nicer part of town. She, Cora and Alexandra had all been waitresses back then. It seemed like such a long time ago now.

"As tempting as that sounds, I'll stick with my department store for now." Cora responded with a merry laugh. "It's a bigger circus, better clowns!"

That got a laugh from both men. Too soon though, it was time to redeposit the scotch back in John's office and reopen the restaurant. Cora hugged both men again before the blinds were reopened and the sign turned back around.

"Don't you be a stranger now?" John told her with an affectionate pat to the cheek. "You'll always have a place here if you want it. Both o' you girls." he included Ali in this by looking around Cora at her. She smiled at him as she tucked her father's urn under her arm once again. They said goodbye and then called a cab to take them out to the reservation.

They could have taken a bus but it still would have been a haul to walk all the way to the lake from the bus stop. Once they were there, they asked the cabbie to wait and walked out onto the wobbly pier with the urn. Ali silently handed the empty box to Cora and untied the top of the bag containing his ashes.

"Good journey papa." she said softly as she took a handful of ashes into her hand and let the breeze carry it out over the lake. Cora silently did the same. Once the bag was empty, they sat out there for a short time, just staring.

"This is a beautiful spot, Ali." Cora commented.

"It's the first place Uncas ever brought me too out here." she replied, pulling her knees up and resting her chin on them. "He said he used to come here every summer with his parents but they stopped after his mom died."

"We're all orphans now, aren't we?" Cora said with a sniff. Ali looked over to see big tears rolling down her sister's face. She silently scooted over to put an arm around her shoulder. They sat there like that until Cora declared she had cried enough, then the tall girl wiped her eyes and smiled at her sister.

"Alright, enough of this." she huffed as she got to her feet. "There's one more thing I want to do before I leave here tomorrow."

"Oh, and what's that?" Ali asked as she too climbed upright.

"Find a market. I'm making dinner for, you, me, Uncas and that hilarious brother of his tonight."

Ali tried to tell her that she didn't need to do that and that Uncas probably wouldn't get home until about nine that night from his logging job. Cora would not be dissuaded so they ended up taking the cab to the reservation market where Cora paid him and sent him on his way. Ali tried to ignore the strange looks they were getting from the locals, which Cora seemed oblivious to. She chose what she needed and then they walked with their groceries to the cabin, which was not nearly as long of a walk as it would have been from the lake.

Thankfully, Nate was at home when they got there because Ali wasn't sure could have located the hide-a-key, even though Uncas had told her where it was. He seemed surprised to see them and then strangely delighted when Cora declared she was going to cook for everyone. By the time Uncas rolled in later that night, the house smelled of garlic and Alfredo sauce. Uncas sounded more than a little confused as he opened the door front door.

"Ok, I know you can't cook worth a damn, Nathanial Blackstone, so who did you rope into cooking for us?" he asked as he stepped inside. Ali and Cora were chatting in the kitchen while Cora stirred a pot of noodles so he didn't initially see them.

"He may not be able to cook worth a damn, but luckily for you, I _live_ with a cook." Cora called out in explanation.

"She insisted." Ali heard Nate's still pleased sounding voice say from the sofa. Ali could only imagine the look Uncas must have shot his brother, maybe assuming he had manipulated Cora into cooking for him or something. She walked around the corner to give him a kiss.

"Hey!" he greeted, smiling tiredly as he leaned down to return the kiss. "What's all this?" He gestured toward the food Cora was preparing.

"She wanted to cook for you guys." Ali explained.

"I owe you." Cora corrected over her shoulder as she poured the noodles and water into a strainer over the sink.

"For what?" Uncas asked, draping an arm over Ali's shoulders. "We didn't do anything except throw out some furniture."

"What you've been _doing_ is looking after my sister while I'm gone." she corrected again. "I owe you for that much, both of you." she included Nate in this too.

"I don't how much 'looking after' I've been doing, but if I benefit by way of free food, I'll take credit for whatever you want." Nate answered and Cora laughed.

Uncas shook his head but smiled and then excused himself, saying that if they were going to have a nice meal he'd rather not smell like a lumberjack and put off everyone's appetite. While he was showering, Ali and Nate set the table and Cora carried the food to it. Once Uncas rejoined them they all got seated and Cora looked at the men apologetically.

"I'm sorry for the lack of wine, but with a father who was an alcoholic, you tend to avoid drinking yourself." She explained. Uncas waved her off.

"Hey, you cooked for us. We don't have the right to complain about lack of anything." he shot his brother a look and the other man nodded as he bit into a hunk of bread. He chewed for a few seconds and his eyes widened.

"Did you toast this with actual butter and garlic?" he asked Cora.

"Again, you live with a chef, you learn to do things right." she responded, smiling.

"I am totally marrying you right now!" he declared. Cora let out a happy laugh and began to pile noodles onto a plate for him.

"Maybe you should wait until you've known me for more than a day before you make that decision." she teased, obviously pleased with the compliment.

"Nope." Nate said back, shaking his head as he took the offered plate. "She's beautiful, she cooks, that's good enough for me."

They ate then, with Nate complimenting everything he put in his mouth. Ali and Uncas smiled at each other every time he paid her sister a compliment because they knew that he was flirting. Cora didn't seem to mind this in the least, in fact she seemed to enjoy every moment of it and that made Ali wonder if Duncan _ever_ paid her the same appreciation when he was around. In fact, Uncas and Ali barely made a sound throughout the meal because Nate and Cora carried the conversation.

When the meal was complete, Nate made an effort to help Cora put things away. Uncas and Ali stood back and let them have that interaction, not because they didn't _want_ to help with clean up, but more because they suddenly felt like intruders in Nate and Cora's little flirt fest.

"They're getting on well." Ali commented to Uncas as she watched her sister deliberately move in a way that made their arms touch.

"Yeah, Nate's not normally this helpful, even with family gatherings." Uncas agreed, watching his brother give Cora a charming smile. The other man said something they couldn't hear and Cora laughed loudly.

"Too bad she's leaving tomorrow," Ali said sadly, "she could be good for him."

Uncas gave her a sympathetic shoulder pat as Cora and Nate rejoined them in the living room and they all settled in to watch a movie. Nate and Cora sat next to each other on the floor with Uncas and Ali sitting all snuggled against each other on the couch. Ali fell asleep halfway through the movie with her head in Uncas lap. She woke up at the end of it and just idly glanced at the floor to see Nate and Cora's pinkie fingers very nearly overlapping each other. They too had fallen asleep with their heads resting against the cushions.

"Should we wake them?" Uncas yawned when he noticed where Ali was looking.

"Naw, leave 'em." Ali said, stretching. "What time is it anyway?"

"Late, you two gonna stay the night?" he asked hopefully. She knew that part of it was that he genuinely wanted her to stay and the other part was that he didn't want to have to wake up enough to drive them home.

"Might as well, though we need to get Cora to the train station by eight." she told him.

"Is she packed and ready to go?" he asked as he helped Ali step around their sleeping siblings and then draped a blanket over them.

"She never really unpacked." Ali told him as they padded their way down the hall. They climbed into his bed and snuggled against each other, finding sleep again quickly. Ali didn't know what woke her up several hours later but for once, it wasn't the nightmare. Those had suddenly stopped after her moment of intense anger the day Cora came home. Something else had woken her up this time, muffled voices from the porch.

She disentangled herself from Uncas arm and he gave a quiet grunt as he rolled over. She silently made her way out into the hall and into the living room to find that Cora and Nate weren't there anymore. She could hear them however; their muffled voices were carrying through the front door. Ali walked over to it and tried to hear what they were talking about.

"So, we just up and left." she heard Cora explaing. "We got out of here so fast that I even forgot my phone. I paid good money for that thing too, probably why I haven't bought a new one. Now I don't have to, I'll just restart my service once I'm back in Texas."

There was a muffled reply from Nate, agreement maybe, and then some words Ali couldn't make out. Ali wondered what they were talking about when Nate's voice finally spoke up more clearly.

"Do you mind if I call or text you sometime?" he was asking hopefully. "You're easy to talk to; it would be nice to do this again, even if it's just by phone." Another round of muffled words from him came through the door before she heard her sister's response.

"I'd like that."

Ali smiled and shook her head as she made her way back to Uncas bedroom; she decided she had eavesdropped enough for one night. It also looked like she had been right with her assessment that they liked one another. Ali crawled back into bed and curled up at Uncas back, shutting her eyes. Maybe things would start to improve for Cora now too.

The next morning found them all at the train station, Nate included, which just made Ali grin more at the memory of the conversation she had listened in on. After Nate and Cora exchanged some quiet words that Uncas and Ali were not privy to, she held out her arms for her little sister. Ali went and hugged Cora tightly, not wanting her to go.

"Don't stay away so long this time?" Ali begged, squeezing her. Cora hugged her just as tightly.

"I won't!" she promised. When Ali released her she turned her dark eyes to Uncas.

"You'll keep taking care of her, right?" she asked in a faux tough voice. Uncas grinned at her and pulled Ali in against him.

"As long as she'll let me." he responded. Cora smiled back at him and then the bus driver honked the horn. Cora jumped and looked over her shoulder at the impatient man that was waiting for her to get on board. She gave them all a wave before climbing the stairs of the bus. Ali watched it pull away and had to swallow some rising tears. She wished that Cora had been able to stay longer. Uncas squeezed her when he saw the tears in her eyes.

"I'd hazard a guess that she'll be back sooner than you think." he told her reassuringly. Ali swallowed the tears and wiped her eyes before looking up at him.

"Oh, why is that?" she asked raggedly.

"Look." Uncas gestured with his head toward Nate. Ali leaned around Uncas tall form to see Nate staring rather wistfully after the bus with his hands shoved in his pockets. She looked from him to the retreating bus and saw her sister's dark framed face staring out a back window; Ali was fairly certain Cora wasn't looking at her. Ali felt a grin spreading slowly over her face. She suspected Uncas was right; Cora would probably come back sooner than they thought.

Authors note:

(That ends Cora's section until I make her come back in the summer. I wanted to make her stay from here on out, but I have no room for her in the narrative until later. Plus, I want to make her reason for coming back be based more around Nate since Ali doesn't need her sister to take care of her anymore. I tried to get into everything I could here in terms of what's going on with Cora but that's hard when I'm not in her head.

I'm still considering writing a 'Cora sequel' to this just so I can get more into what's going with her, how she feels about everything, stuff like that. She's an interesting character in my mind. Very tough, very caring but she's got her demons too. What's interesting about Cora is that she bares not real resentment towards her sister for their father favoritism. She is a little jealous of Ali but it's not a mean jealousy. She feels like her sister gets to be protected from the world while she has to go on, towing the line and never really being appreciated for anything. That's part of the reason she's so drawn to Nate, He appreciates her.

I know I also keep coming back to this idea that everyone thinks Uncas and Ali shouldn't live together but I'm trying to be realistic to what people would say if this were real life. I practically lived with my boyfriend in college even though I had my own place and that's probably what Ali is going to do to. Since I have some things planned for later and having Ali be 'stuck' out there as Cora suggested wouldn't really work.

We are nearing the end of the first part of this story. After the recital, I'm going to get into the second part which is the summer portion of the story. I told you this would be a long one ^^)


	20. Chapter 20

**Lyrics used in this chapter are from the song Clarity by Zedd. The song is the property of Zedd and Interscope records (I do not own the song or the record it comes from, I make no money off this so please don't sue me)**

**Character of Jay Donnel used with Permission from Traci Spencer (If you would like to see more of Jay Donnel, Traci's comic 'Compass' is still available of . check it out, it's great ^^)**

Three days after Cora's departure for Texas, Uncas found himself sitting in a crowded auditorium feeling entirely conspicuous and out of place. Next to him sat Sinopa who, if she felt out of place, didn't show it. In fact, she looked entirely too happy to be there.

"Remind me why we're doing this again?" Uncas asked her, half in seriousness and half in jest, taking in Sinopa's nicely dressed form where she leaned over the railing to look at the orchestra that was tuning their instruments.

The young doctor was wearing a blue dress dotted with little white flowers and had her dark hair wrapped around her head in an elaborate set of braids. Uncas had asked his Sinopa if she wanted to attend Ali's opening night with him for a couple of reasons. One, the girl he would typically have taken to such a function was _in_ the performance so that plan was out. Second, Sinopa had been good naturedly ribbing him about never having taken her anywhere nice when they were younger. He decided to remedy that now. The third, unofficial reason was that he didn't want to do this by himself and Nate had refused to have any part of it.

"We're doing this because you went and fell in love with a ballerina." Sinopa reminded him. "Now, you're doomed to do this until the end of time."

She looked around at all the fancy white people who were still finding their seats. Uncas and Sinopa were the only dark faces he could see in the entire auditorium, it was like looking at two tiny specks of pepper thrown into a barrel of salt, a fact that was making him a little uncomfortable.

"Any chance you'd cover for me if I snuck out?" he asked her, grinning. The dark haired girl turned and smiled at him pleasantly over her shoulder.

"Nope." Sinopa replied. "I'd sing like a bird the minute she asked me."

"Wow, you are full of bitch!" Uncas said back affectionately. Sinopa blew him a kiss as the opening chords began in the orchestra. The lights dimmed and Uncas sat back in the chair and reminded himself that he was here for Ali; he could endure one night of cultural enlightenment if it made her happy.

Once the curtain rose and the dancers began to make their way onto the stage, Uncas found himself in a battle to keep from laughing. He was a guy who worked in two different male dominated professions, so seeing a bunch of dudes in tights prancing around on stage was almost too much for him. He tried to swallow his laughter by focusing on what was happening on stage and pressing his knuckles against his lips.

From what he could tell, 'blonde, tight pants dude' (a glance at the playbill told him this was Prince Siegfried) was dancing around with a bunch of peasants for some unspecified reason. Uncas looked at the play bill again and it informed him that this was a birthday celebration for the prince. Ok then. The prince pranced around the stage some more, dancing with girls who all looked alike as far as Uncas was concerned, until a woman he had to assume was the queen handed him a cross bow.

"Oh, please tell me he's going to start taking the dancing peasants out one by one?" Uncas prayed, muttering the thought to Sinopa as quietly as he could.

"Shhhhhhh!" she hushed him, turning her eyes back to the stage. She seemed pretty focused on one dancing peasant in particular, a taller girl with red hair that was pulled back in a bun. Uncas smirked and shut up, trying to keep his amused thoughts to himself.

No such luck on the prince taking out the other dancers, which would at least have been interesting. Instead, Siegfried put the crossbow on a table and proceeded to dance with every god damn female on the stage. He did this for half an hour! It was only broken up by bouts of dancing from the other dudes in tights and some guy dressed as a jester. Hell, even the guy meant to portray the king was nodding off in his chair. _Oh, god_, he thought to himself, _the ballet is becoming self-aware_.

Finally, the other dancers began filtering off stage and the prince went back to grab the cross bow. Uncas again prayed that he was going to hunt down the party-goers one by one but all he did was dance around with it for a while before leaving the stage himself. Then the curtain went down and applause filled the auditorium, signaling the end of Act I. Another glance at the playbill informed Uncas he had three more of these Acts to endure.

After a few minutes, the curtain rose again and showed a background that was painted to look like a lake. The stage hands had put something mirrored in the back section that they now moved a series of fake swans over as some dude dressed in black jumped around the stage like an epileptic penguin. Now this guy _was_ interesting, his stage make-up was superb, making his young face look drawn and evil. He was dressed in a costume made of black feathers, giving him a Raven like appearance. The playbill said he was called 'Von Rothbart' and that he had cast a spell on a group of girls, turning them into swans. There was no reason given in the playbill for why he felt the need to do this, but it was a fairytale, so there you go.

Von Rothbart danced around for a while before running off and then the prince appeared and did much of the same. After the prince too, ran off stage, a group of Ballerina's dressed in white began to filter out from the right and left hand stage sides. Uncas sat up straighter because he knew that Ali was soon to appear. He might think this entire production was ridiculous but he was curious to see how she would improve it, and improve it she did!

Ali twirled out onto the stage in a dress that was as white as the other dancers but that made her already pale skin glow ephemerally in the stage lights. Around her head was a headband of feathers that lay softly against her cheeks, making her blue eyes shine even from the distance he sat from the stage. The only thing that set her apart as the 'swan queen' was the tiny, silver crown that was nestled on top of her moon like hair. She looked startlingly lovely in the middle of the other swans and Uncas wondered if it was possible to die of love for someone.

It was in that moment, staring at Ali as she pirouetted and spun, that the depth of his feelings for her became more readily apparent to him. Uncas knew he loved her, he had told her so many times and in many different ways. But seeing her now, with that look of utter radiance on her face, made that love a painful thing.

Ali danced on her own for a while, capturing not just his attention but that of the audience as well. Uncas felt like the auditorium was holding a collective breath as the 'Swan Queen' moved gracefully around the stage. Uncas found it interesting that Ali moved the skirt in such a way that it was like the shaking tail feathers of a bird, a little shiver just to give the illusion more credence. Then the prince reappeared and began to approach her, making Uncas stifle a wash of sudden irrational jealousy at the guy's intrusion, not to mention the way he was touching his girlfriend.

The prince seemed to have his hands everywhere at once as he lifted, twirled or grabbed at Ali, who made small, but ineffectual attempts to escape him. They seemed to be engaging in a flirting chase, where Ali would flit away only to look over her shoulder to see if the prince were still there. Uncas had to make assumptions since there was no talking in the ballet to clue him in to what was going on. Finally, Von Rothbart reappeared and sent the other 'Swans' into a dancing frenzy, blocking Ali from the prince's view.

"What's with the face?" Sinopa asked him, squinting at him in the dark. "You look like you're about to murder someone." Uncas realized he was gripping the arm rests tight enough to turn his knuckles white. Also his jaw was clenched tight enough to hurt.

"Nothing," he mumbled, releasing both his jaw as well as his death grip on the armrest, "Just wishing that _blondie_ would keep his hands to himself."

"Look at you, getting all jealous," she teased. Uncas laughed at not only her comment but at himself as well. Relaxing his face, he leaned back a little more comfortably in his chair.

"I don't know what you're talking about." he responded innocently. Sinopa rolled her eyes and turned her attention back to the stage, where Act II was coming to a close. Ali had disappeared altogether and the swans were falling into repose as the prince looked on wistfully. Then the curtain went down and the applause soared again.

They got an intermission and Uncas took that time to read the synopsis and figure out what the hell had just happened. Apparently, Ali or Odette, as her character was called, had informed the prince that the spell on herself and the other swans could only be broken if someone declared undying love for her. The appearance of Von Rothbart near the end of Act II had interrupted them. He was supposed to get all that just from watching them dance, huh? Uncas thought maybe the ballet's expectations were a little too high in that regard.

Sinopa returned from the restroom after they flashed the lights to signal the Ballet was about to begin again. She took her seat and then the lights dimmed and the orchestra started playing their opening chords. The curtain lifted to reveal the same scene as the first act and Uncas tried not to groan as more and more peasants filtered back out onto the stage. Oh, god, not _this_ again? He scrubbed at his face with his hands and tried to find the patience to stay in his seat. He knew Ali would appear again eventually, all he had to do was get through the ballet and then they would head to the after party. Thankfully, he wouldn't be expected to watch this thing every night until it ended.

So, once again, the prince danced with every female on the stage. The play bill informed him that this was some kind of 'wife choosing thing.' This went on until Von Rothbart showed up with a girl that was wearing a black version of the swan outfit. Another glance at the playbill told him that this girl was 'Odile', Von Rothbart's daughter, who was supposed be posing as Odette.

Ok, the prince had to be the dumbest fucker on the planet if he couldn't tell that the new girl was _not_ Ali. They looked nothing alike. This new girl was dark haired for one thing, and of a sturdier build than the petite and blonde girl Uncas had become so attached to. Who in their right mind would think this this girl was Ali? Well, the prince did apparently, as he danced with the 'Ali imposter' for another half hour.

Somewhere, in all this dancing, the prince was supposed to have made the declaration of love that was meant for Odette. Uncas didn't know when this occurred exactly but suddenly the stage went dark and all the dancers looked around them in a dramatic fluster. A screen lit up behind them, shaped like a window, and Ali appeared on it, wearing a stricken expression and dancing further and further away. Soon, this image vanished and the prince ran toward it with his own stricken expression.

"Idiot." Uncas scoffed, shaking his head.

"You really don't like this ballet do you?" Sinopa asked him, smirking.

"I don't like stories that don't make any damn sense." he answered. "That girl doesn't look anything like Ali, the Prince is a moron."

"Oh Uncas, you poor uncultured sod." she laughed. "It's supposed to be romantic."

"What it _is_ is poor storytelling." he countered. Sinopa chuckled quietly at his lack of whimsy before turning her head back to the stage. The Prince ran out and the curtain went down to change scenes for Act four.

When it rose again, the scene was the lake from earlier. The swans mingled about and made motions with their arms that he assumed was supposed to insinuate moving wings. A few swans in black dresses began to filter onto the stage and Uncas wondered if that was supposed to be a metaphor for mourning since the black swans hadn't been present before.

Ali danced out forlornly, now wearing some blue, sparkly make-up near her eyes to allude to tears. She danced her sad solo with the white and black swans in the background until the idiot prince arrived to 'explain everything' according to the playbill.

They danced another dance together until Von Rothbart and the black swan, Odile reappeared. The playbill said that Von Rothbart was trying to hold the prince to the promise he accidentally made to Odile. The two lovers gave a mutual 'Fuck all' to this and decided they would rather die than be parted. This was, of course, shown through a dramatic dance between all the parties involved because simply telling the audience what was going on was out of the question. God, he hated this ballet!

Ali and the Prince engaged in a solo that had them randomly hugging and then running away from each other, only to collide again in the middle of the stage. All of this was supposed to imply that the Prince and Odette threw themselves into the lack and drowned. How Uncas was supposed to get all that from their movements, he had no clue.

When they were gone, the other swans flew into an angry dance, surrounding Von Rothbart and Odile. The lights flickered and dimmed, the auditorium falling into silence as they waited to see what would happen next. Then the lights slowly can back on, Ali was standing with the prince next to the fallen and prone forms of Von Rothbart and Odile. Weren't they supposed to be dead already?

Ah, ascending to heaven as ghosts, the playbill informed him, good to know. There was one more involved solo between the Prince and Ali and the ballet was _finally_ over. Uncas heaved a sigh of relief as the curtain went down and the auditorium exploded in applause. Soon the lights came up and the dancers began filtering out for curtain calls.

Each of the main characters came forward, one at a time, to varying degrees of applause but none of that compared to the way they received Ali. If the house could have come down, it would have, and he could see her expression of genuine surprise for the standing ovation she was receiving. A man Uncas recognized as David came onto the stage to hand her an armful of roses, which she received before bowing to the crowd again. Then all the main players took their bows and the performance was truly at an end.

He and Sinopa met up with Ali near the stairs that led to the dressing rooms a short time later. Ali had removed most of her stage makeup but some of the sparkly blue stuff still remained around her eyelids. Her hair was tumbling around her shoulder like a pale curtain and she looked like a fairy child who had randomly decided to don human clothes. She made her way through the crowd toward them and hopped up on her toes for a kiss.

"Hey," she greeted, falling silent as they kissed a little longer than was necessary. Uncas felt Sinopa fidget next to him and broke off the kiss before they embarrassed themselves.

"Were you horribly bored?" Ali asked them both worriedly.

"I, for one, enjoyed it immensely," Sinopa told her and then poked Uncas shoulder teasingly, "This one not so much."

"It wasn't _that_ bad." he tried to defend himself but it came out sounding lame even to him. "I liked your parts." he reassured Ali, kissing the top of her head.

"It's a long ballet to sit through, you can admit to not loving it." Ali said, giving him an out.

"Oh my god, I was so bored." Uncas breathed out in a rush, laughing. Ali smiled, taking no offense.

"Well, thank you for enduring it, _both_ of you." she looked over at Sinopa to include her in the 'thank you' as well. After a few more moments of idle chit chat, the other dancers began to filter past them, heading for the club that was hosting the after party. A few stopped to inquire if they were coming and Uncas wrapped an arm around Ali's waist as they ascended the stairs to head for the door that would take them out into the street. They walked out into the, cool but not cold, April evening and Ali took a deep breath.

"Oh god, this feels good after the heat of those stage lights!" she sighed as she turned her face up and shut her eyes, just enjoying the fresh air. The light from a street lamp lit up her face and hair, making the 'fairy child' illusion even more striking.

"It did look pretty toasty up there." Sinopa commented as Ali shook the remaining tension from her shoulders and opened her eyes again.

"It was _beastly_!" Ali declared, her British accent making the word 'beastly' sound melodious somehow. "Gage was sweating something awful. His palms were so sweaty that he nearly dropped me on that last lift."

"Was Gage the one with the wandering hands?" Uncas asked as they picked up their pace again. Ali looked at him curiously, not missing the hint of sullenness in his voice, which he was trying hard to keep even.

"He played Siegfried but what do you mean by…" she trailed off as his meaning suddenly struck her. For a moment she looked at him as though he were crazy and then burst into a fit of giggles.

"Why is this so funny?" Uncas asked, he couldn't help but grin at her amusement but he still felt a little bit of unreasonable annoyance about the 'idiot Prince' pawing at his girlfriend.

"It's funny because you're jealous of a guy whose interests run more toward the male persuasion." Ali told him, still laughing.

"Then what was with the hands that were…" he did a gesture that was supposed to be an impression of how Gage looked and that just made Ali laugh harder.

"That's ballet, Uncas. It's a lot of hands moving everywhere at once, but I can promise you that it's _usually_ in no way arousing."

"He's seriously gay?" Uncas asked, giving her a doubtful look. She obviously knew more about the people she worked with than he did but, to him, that Gage guy looked like he was feeling her up.

"As a three dollar bill." Ali quipped. That one made Sinopa snort with laughter before she remembered something and turned to Ali with a conspirators smile.

"Speaking of people who prefer their own gender, what can you tell me about the tall red head from Act I?"

"You're going to have to be more specific," Ali told her as they saw the club in the distance, "There are a few redheads in the company."

"You know, the one that the prince danced with before everyone ran off stage?" Sinopa clarified. Ali thought for a moment, her eyebrows drawing in, and then they went up again with realization.

"You mean Cassie?" she asked and Sinopa shrugged to indicate she had no idea what the girl's name was, that's why she was asking. "To be honest...I… don't know. It's never come up."

"Well, I guess I'll just have to find out on my own." Sinopa declared with a grin, she did love a challenge. Uncas laughed and rolled his eyes and Ali just smiled as they walked into the club with its loud thumping music.

It was a club in the nicer section of Easton, but not so nice that there were bouncers at the door deciding who could and couldn't come in. Most of the dancers were there already, either moving to the beat on the dance floor or sipping drinks around the bar. The club itself was circular in appearance, with the dance floor sitting in a bowl in the middle of it. The bar was straight ahead and up some stairs from the front door, and there were private little booths scattered around the upper section.

The music that was playing when they came in had a kind of techno beat and a few of the dancers from the company were already showing off under the strobe lights. Sinopa went immediately to the bar for a beer, ordering it from the stocky red-haired man that was wiping a cloth over the counter. Ali and Uncas followed her over and Ali climbed up onto one of the stools, smiling at the man behind the bar.

"Evening, Jay!" she greeted merrily. "You covering for Tony tonight?"

The man smiled at her as he scooted a beer across the counter to Sinopa. Uncas saw then that he was short, maybe shorter than Ali, and of Irish descent. His arms were heavily muscled, more so than one would expect of a bartender. His red hair was pulled back in a ponytail and curled at the back of his neck.

"Ali!" The Irish guy greeted back, shouting to be heard over the music. "Have a good performance tonight?"

"It went well enough!" she shouted back.

"You havin' anything then, darlin', or your friend?" the man she called Jay asked her before looking over, and then up and up some more, at Uncas. _"Christ on a cracker_, you're a tall one!"

Uncas laughed; he was getting that a lot lately. Jay laughed at his own surprised exclamation, as did Ali. She introduced Uncas to Jay Donnel, and ordered a soda for herself. Uncas said he didn't need anything and the bartender went off to take another order down the bar. Uncas and Ali sat at there, talking (or rather shouting) at each other for a while before a specific song began playing over the sound system. A general happy cry went up from a few of the dancers as they hopped down from their seats at the bar and began to convene on the dance floor below. One girl ran past and stopped long enough to grab Ali's arm, trying to pull her down from her seat.

"C'mon, Ali!" The dark haired girl who played Odile shouted enthusiastically. "We haven't done the routine for this in _forever_."

"Do you mind?" Ali asked Uncas apologetically. "It's this thing we came up with during warm ups a few years ago, we tend to do it when it comes on at clubs."

"If you still have energy for dancing after doing it for two hours, go right ahead." he commented, grinning. "I can't dance for shit anyway so go, have fun!"

Ali leaned over to kiss him, whispering that she would be back soon and then ran out to the dance floor to join her friends. Uncas leaned back against the bar and watched as the main characters of the ballet began spinning around the floor in time to a surprisingly melodious techno beat.

As he watched them dance, the words of the song began to filter into his brain, even though he hadn't been paying much attention to them before. Uncas found a strange parallel between the lyrics and his relationship with Ali as he listened to what the song was about.

The female vocalist was mourning a relationship that was not an easy one. She expressed a forlorn longing for whoever it was she was singing about, not wanting to love the other person but having no control over her feeling either.

_You are the piece of me I wish I didn't need_

Uncas heard these words, watching his girlfriend being twirled out by a guy he thought might be named Tyler, and realized how true that line was for him. When had that happened; when had he started _needing_ her instead of merely feeling a need to protect her? He had never _needed_ anyone else he dated and yet she had wormed her way in and he had no hope of pushing her out again, even if he wanted to.

_If our love is tragedy why are you my remedy?_

Uncas wondered who the singer was speaking to. Was she asking her lover this question, was she asking him, or someone else entirely? He thought about his uncle's attitude toward his relationship with Ali, and Paul's, and even Hurit's. How they told him, in so many ways, that he and Ali had no future together, that they were too different and it would never work. It felt like the singer had a crystal ball and was singing about his life as she looked into it.

_ If our loves insanity why are you my clarity?_

The song took a turn in the second half, implying the relationship had ended but the woman knew she'd go back if her lover came too close. 'The Swan Lake' dancers moved almost ephemerally under the moving lights of the dance floor as the music rose and rose, reaching for what he knew would be a climax that was like two cars colliding. It was leading up to a massive explosion. When the crescendo hit the house came down as the dancers moved faster and faster around each other, twirling and spinning as they danced their carefully choreographed routine.

Uncas was mesmerized, not only by the song and how it seemed to be speaking to him, but also by the petite blonde girl he had come to love more than he ever thought possible. There was something about watching her spin around to a song that could have been written for them that made his love for her a painful thing for the second time that night.

_Why are you my clarity?_

It wasn't that he hadn't known he loved her before this moment, but for some reason, this simple little song, being played in a tiny night club in the nicer section of Easton, had somehow proved to him how _much_ he loved her. He knew two things then; the first, was that when this song ended he was going to tell her so. The other, was that he was going to take her home and _show_ her.

_Why are you my remedy?_

Uncas eyes caught Ali's right as the chorus started again. He felt himself climbing down from the stool, slapping a few dollars onto the bar for her soda, and making his way toward the stairs that led down to the dance floor. The other dancers continued to move around Ali as she froze in place, staring back at Uncas with the most awe filled expression on her face.

Had she felt it too, whatever this song was bringing out in him? Ali was still as he made his way down the stairs and then, as though possessed, she took a step forward. One step and then another, moving through the fast moving bodies as fluidly as someone would move through falling rain; Uncas moved down the steps and Ali made her way toward him.

_If our love is tragedy, why are you my remedy?_

They had almost reached each other. There was a purpose in their steps, a mutual recognition of something that they had known, but not fully appreciated until now, shining in their eyes. To the surrounding room they would only look like two people moving to greet one another on the dance floor but it was so much deeper than that. Uncas reached for her and she reached for him. They collided into each other's arms as the vocalist reached the final words of the song.

_If our love is insanity, why are you my clarity?_

Uncas kissed her; Ali wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him back fervently. He put everything he felt for her into that one kiss, pulling her in and cupping the back of her head with his palms. She buried her hands in his hair and molded herself against him in that familiar way that he realized he had been missing the past week. When they came up for air, he saw that her eyes had gone a little glassy with the passion of kiss.

"I love you." he told her breathlessly, pushing the hair back out of her face and cupping her cheeks with his hands. Ali's breathing was coming out as raggedly as his own. They held each other like that on the stairs, staring into each other's eyes as though seeing each other for the first time.

"I know." came her breathless response.

Uncas knew that they had come to the same conclusion, and that conclusion was that they were going to leave the bar. They were going to get to his car and drive as fast as they could; they were probably going to break every speed law in the state of Montana getting back to the cabin, and they were going to make love when they got there. He knew this as clearly as he knew that he would one day die and he dared anyone to try and stop them.

"Do you want get out of here?" Ali asked him with that same look of knowledge shining in her eyes. She knew it was going to happen too and her eyes told him that she wanted it to happen. This was the moment, the perfect moment that they had unconsciously been waiting for, and they were going to take it.

Uncas scanned the bar for Sinopa, who was curled up in a corner with the red haired Cassie. His eyes met his friends and, much like when they were younger and having sex with only each other, a mutual understanding passed between them. Sinopa smiled, understanding that she would have to find her own way home. She gave him a shooing motion with her hand and turned to capture the mouth of the girl next to her. It looked like they were both getting lucky tonight.

Uncas didn't need more of a dismissal than that. He grabbed Ali's hand and they nearly ran out the door, letting it bang shut behind them as they disappeared into the night.

Author's note:

(The little end bit there with the song had changed significantly from my original version. This was originally going to be a karaoke bar and Ali was going to sing the song (This was back before I knew what her character did for a living) to Uncas. As the characters grew and changes, it became a lot harder to picture her serenading him like that. In fact, when I try to imagine it now, both characters burst out laughing in my head. This worked out much better.

Next chapter will be a nice, graphic sex scene (or several) so anyone who doesn't want to read gritty sex between these two is forewarned.

Also, the whole description of "Swan Lake" was how I felt when I was watching it. It was so boring! Sorry if anyone out there really likes the ballet but I was bored out of my mind. So was Uncas apparently XD. Anyway, thank you all for reading and I will see you in the next chapter)


	21. Chapter 21

**(Clarity is owned by Zedd and Interscope records. Again, I don't own the song or make any money from this.)**

**Warning: Graphic sexual content ahead**

Ali and Uncas hopped into the truck and drove at brake neck speed back toward the reservation. They would have made it to the cabin sooner if they hadn't stopped by the side of the road to make out. Uncas pulled the car over with a shrieking of tires, kicking up a cloud of dust from the gravel. Ali released her seat belt and reached for him as he was pulling the parking brake. He pulled her into his lap and she molded her mouth to his as though she would drown in him.

Something had happened between them while she was dancing back at the club, something both subtle and extraordinary, a shift in their relationship that was so quiet it was almost imperceptible. Ali had danced to that song many times before and had never given its lyrics any thought past thinking they were catchy. She had never had a reason to give them anymore thought than that. She might not have given them any thought _this_ time if it hadn't been for one line in particular.

_You are the piece of me I wish I didn't need_

The words had seeped into her brain as she moved to the music and she felt a curiosity that she should pick up on them now. As the song continued on, she began to realize that it could have been the theme to her relationship with Uncas. It spoke of a relationship that was not perfect yet the vocalist expressed an unyielding desire to be with the person she was singing about, despite whatever was getting in their way. She called the significant other her 'clarity'. Ali had looked towards Uncas near the end of the song, and saw a similar recognition written all over his stoic face as he stared back at her.

Seeing him there, seeing that same significance in his eyes, something had shifted for both of them. It was a quiet, but profound, event that would define their relationship from there onward. Ali could almost equate it to the feeling of becoming engaged but it wasn't nearly as simple as that. It was more of a mutual realization that they were in this for the long haul, they were going to see this through regardless of what occurred. The kiss on the dance floor had served to seal that promise.

Their hands were everywhere at once as she sat straddled his lap. Uncas hands cupped her breasts before slipping under her top, sliding under her bra to touch the naked flesh. He bore her back against the steering wheel, hiking up her shirt as his mouth closed over her nipple; she arched and set off the car horn. Uncas spun with her and bore her back onto the car seat without detaching himself from her breast.

Ali felt his hands tugging at her pants and tried to help him pull them down but they only got them down to about mid-thigh; undressing in their current position was proving difficult. Uncas darted his hand between her legs to stroke her clit, his nimble fingers bringing little cries from her as she undid his pants. She reached inside to take hold of him. He panted into her shoulder as she pulled him out and pumped him, kissing along his neck and moaning when his fingers found their way inside her. She made a motion to pull him toward her, thinking she didn't want to wait a minute longer to have him inside her but he shook his head and pulled back.

"No, not in the car!" Uncas panted, kissing her hotly one more time.

"What…why..?" she stammered confusedly as he pushed himself back into his pants and adjusted them.

"For one, the tribal police patrol these roads and I don't really want to waste time explaining anything to them. Second, I don't think we can maneuver very well in here." he explained and then pointed to her pants which they hadn't been able to get pulled down very far let alone off completely.

"Good point." Ali conceded as Uncas situated himself back in the driver's seat. Ali was pulling her pants back up and redoing her seatbelt as he pulled back out onto the road. They may not have been able to do what she wanted to that well in the car, but she had no intention of letting him go that easily. Once he resumed their journey, Ali scooted across the seat to cup him through his pants. He looked down at her with barely contained lust shining in his eyes.

"Oh, I'm totally getting you back for this when we get there." he told her, gritting his teeth as she moved her hand up and down his erection, creating friction with his pants.

"I'm counting on it." she answered huskily.

He ended up not being able to wait to 'get back at her'. They pulled the car over again, only a couple of miles from where they stopped the first time. Ali giggled as Uncas pushed her back in the seat and then moaned when he pulled her pants down to descend on her with mouth and tongue. Ali discovered that he was correct about how difficult it was to maneuver in the car. Her knees either banged into the dashboard or the seat when she tried to open them wider for him and her ankles were effectively trapped by her jeans. He attacked her core with abandon, drawing sounds from her that she didn't think she was capable of making. When she felt the pressure beginning to build, he suddenly stopped, sat up and restarted the car.

"Oh, that just mean!" she exclaimed as he pulled away from the roadside. Uncas shot her a heat filled grin as she attempted to pull her pants back up her shaky legs.

"Now you know how I feel! Behave and let me drive!" he replied, looking entirely too pleased with himself. Well, there was no chance of that happening _no_w, not after he had gotten her going and then just left her unfulfilled. Ali smirked as she slid across the seat to undo his pants. Two could play at that game!

"Ali, I'm trying to drive, what are you-" he trailed off when her mouth closed over him and she felt every muscle in his legs tighten up as he struggled to focus on driving in a straight line. She moved her mouth up and down him, teasing but never quite letting him reach the finish line. She knew when they arrived at the cabin because he slowed the car down and turned it into his normal parking spot. She removed her mouth from him and grinned up at him evilly from her place in his lap.

"I hate you." he said with no malice or annoyance in his voice at all.

"No, you don't." she responded. Then she climbed back into his lap to show him why.

They tumbled through the door of the cabin a few minutes later in a tangle of arms and flinging clothes. Ali felt her back thump against the wall in the hallway and wrapped her legs around his waist as he kissed her and struggled to undo her bra. Soon enough the bra went flying, Uncas pulled her away from the wall, holding her to him with one hand cupped her under the behind and the other pressed into her back. They thumped against the opposite wall as she hauled his shirt over his head and threw it away. Her naked breasts met his chest and she moaned around his tongue as he ground against her.

They must have collided with every section of the hallway before finally making it to his room; Ali had no idea where their pants had ended up. They had shimmied out of them somewhere between hallway and bathroom. They fell into his bed in a panting, moaning heap as Uncas reached his fingers between her legs to see if she was wet enough. Finding her more than ready, he positioned himself between her legs and looked down at her for permission. Ali nodded at him; all of their foreplay had happened in the truck and hallway, so if he didn't get in her soon, one of them was going to die.

Uncas worked all of that long length inside of her slowly and she cried out in pleasure this time instead of pain. This was as it should be; pure ecstasy with nothing holding them back. Ali held onto him as they found their rhythm, bucking her hips up to meet his thrusts and moaning into his neck at the feeling of him moving inside her. She had heard stories of course, from the other dancers, about how sex was supposed to feel but nothing could have prepared her for this. Her body was on fire, every part of her responding to his movements, to his voice as it moaned above her.

He whispered things to her in _Algonquian_ as he slowly increased his thrusts, she didn't know what any of it meant but it was said so lustily and with so much emotion that it pushed her that much closer to release. The orgasm, when it came, pulled a cry from her that was almost animalistic. An incoherent jumble of sound that filled the room as her back arched with the constriction of her inner muscles around his member.

Uncas cried out as well, her orgasm bringing on his own. They road it out together until he collapsed on top of her in a sweating, trembling heap. Ali held him to her, breathing hard, the world coming forward and receding as she looked up at the ceiling. When she felt like she could move again, she pushed his sweaty hair out of his face and held him pressed into the crook of her neck. She kissed his hair lazily as he too relearned how to breathe.

"Why'd we wait so long to do that?" he asked breathlessly, trailing a hand up and down the side of her breast. Ali grinned against his hair and gave his shoulders a squeeze.

"Because we're stupid." she responded. That elicited a chuckle from him which rumbled through her and made her squirm when it reached where they were still connected. Her entire lower half felt like a raw, exposed nerve but the rest of her tingled pleasantly.

"Well, that and Nate was always here." Ali added with chuckle of her own, "or Papa was home, or we had no time."

"Naw, I think you were right the first time," Uncas groaned happily as he pulled out of her and switched their positions so that she was lying against him, "we were just stupid."

"It was worth the wait though." she said, tilting her head up to grin at him. "I don't think that could have been more perfect."

They lay there like that, entwining their fingers and loosening them before re-entwining them all over again. Ali felt more relaxed and at peace than she had for a long time. With everything that had happened the past week, her father's death, her sisters arrival and departure, and now the consummation of their relationship, she thought she should feel bad somehow. Like it was inappropriate for her to be here with him like this, happy and relaxed in the afterglow of sex, immediately following the death of her father. Instead felt peaceful, like all was as it should be.

"Where'd you go?" Uncas asked, tapping her nose and bringing her out of her reverie. She smiled at him, content.

"I was thinking that I'm happy, that I want to stay right here forever." she replied, snuggling into his chest.

He was quiet for a few minutes as though thinking and surprised her with his next words.

"You could you, know?"

"What, stay here like this? That would be awkward when the bank repossessed the house because we stopped paying all the bills." Ali joked.

"The house was paid off a long time ago," Uncas laughed, "besides, that's not what I meant." Ali turned onto her stomach so that he chin was resting on her hands which were laying over each other on his chest. She looked up at him with raised eyebrows, waiting.

"Move in," Uncas said seriously, "You're here most of the time anyway."

Ali looked back at him, thinking about her conversation with Cora. She mused on how she had said almost these exact words to her sister. She thought about Cora's response, how her sister implied Ali would be stuck if it things went sour between them. Then she thought about having to go back to that empty apartment all by herself, night after night. Ali looked into his beautiful brown eyes, the eyes that loved her, that looked out for her, and that were silently begging her to say yes. It was his eyes that decided it for her.

"Alright." she agreed, with a gentle smile pulling her mouth up at the corners. Uncas looked taken aback by her answer and she laughed at the startled expression.

"You thought I'd say no?" she queried. He laughed and rolled until he was on top of her again; his chest pressed against hers as he trailed a finger down one of her cheeks.

"I thought you might," he admitted, "Especially since everyone's been telling me it's too soon. I didn't know how you would feel about it."

"I want to be here." she replied, running her fingers hair through his hair until she reached the end of a strand. This she twirled in her fingers. "I don't care if it's too soon or if it's ill-advised or any other reason I've heard this week. I want to be with you."

"Same here." he agreed, scooting up to capture her mouth.

"Think 'Nightmare Bunny' will mind?" Ali joked when they separated. Uncas laughed, burying his face in her chest; she squirmed and giggled as his hair tickled her sides.

"I'm going to have to take out a restraining order on 'Nightmare bunny,' I'm afraid, Uncas told her in a faux aggrieved tone, "He's taken to sleeping in the bushes outside my window with a jar of vapor rub and an Exacto knife."

"It's those cultural differences," she told him shrugging, "They get you every time."

They joked about the ugly stuffed toy for a few more minutes before they started making out again, soon enough Uncas was back inside her and the only sounds in the room were small gasps and whispered endearments in the dark.

They woke up the next morning and had sex again. Ali thought this was a very pleasant way to wake up. He had fixed the head board somewhere along the line, so the only sounds now were the ones they made as he held her hips and she moved above him. Ali felt like a teenager who had just discovered sex existed and couldn't get enough of it. They couldn't keep their hands off each other.

After they had their 'oh, so pleasant wake up sex' they tried to take a shower, which only resulted in them trying to have _more_ sex. Ali and Uncas learned the hard way that 'shower sex' was about as impossible as 'truck sex'. For one thing, one of them always ended up either directly in the flow of water or stuck in the cold section behind the shower head. In Uncas case, it caught him right in the face if he placed her in the arctic tundra that was the space behind. In Ali's case, the water kept catching the back of her head and dripping into her eyes while Uncas froze his balls off behind her. The point was that it simply didn't work. They ended up having sex on the floor of the bathroom instead and laughing about the whole thing when they were done.

"Oh, god," Uncas laughed, rolling off of her to lie on his back, "that was like…the most failed attempt at sex ever."

"You're the one that initiated it," Ali pointed out, rolling on her side to study his profile. "I was just trying to get clean."

"Oh, you liked it!" he teased, turning his head to look at her. "I heard some sounds in there that were _not_ complaints."

"Yeah, they were me freezing my butt off." she countered. Uncas laughed and reached for her, pinning her to the bathroom floor playfully.

"You say Uncas no good at pleasing woman!" he said, talking like an Indian from a spaghetti western.

"Oh my god, if you keep talking like that we will never have sex again!" she threatened him, laughing as he tickled her.

"Uncas loveum white woman," he continued as she howled with laughter, "Ali say he is the one and bear him many children!"

"I swear to god, if you keep talking like that I will break up with you." she told him and then gasped as his fingers found their way to her core. Her laughter became moans as he fingered her on the bathroom rug.

"So, what were you saying about never having sex again?" he teased as he kissed along her neck and jaw. His fingers were plunging in and out of her, stealing her ability to speak.

I hate you." she whispered, echoing his words from the night before. He grinned down at her.

"No, you don't." he said then covered her mouth with his and ended any further discussion.

An hour or so later, they found themselves in the kitchen, as Ali attempted to make her famous crepes. She was wearing one of his shirts, which he was playfully trying to hike up as he tried to fondle her through her underwear.

"Ok, seriously," she told him in playful exasperation, turning to bat his searching hands away "we're _both_ going to get chaffed down there and _you're_ going to get a finger cramp if we don't stop for a little while."

"I'll talk my chances." he responded, pulling her in for a kiss which she fell into with a laugh, wrapping her arms around his neck. They probably would have gotten it on in the kitchen if a knock hadn't sounded on the front door.

"Fuck." Uncas muttered. Ali giggled and turned off the stove.

"I should probably get that since you're _uh_…*_ahem_* she pointed down at where he was bulging out against his jeans. He gave a laugh as she walked around him to head for the door.

"Tell whoever it is to go away," he called after her as she was undoing the lock and pulling the door slightly open, "That we've got things to do, namely each other!"

She shook her head and giggled before turning to see who was at the door. She found herself face to face with Uncas harsh faced uncle. Ali blinked at the intimidating older man who looked her up and down with disapproving dark eyes. Ali could only stare at him, all words dying in her throat.

"Hi." she said quietly once she located her voice, unable to come up with anything more eloquent. Magua's eyebrows went up faintly at the greeting and he nodded once curtly. Still, Ali didn't move; she just stared at him as though she had gone stupid.

"Is my nephew available?" he asked after she stood there for far too long, looking like a deer caught in the headlights. His mention of Uncas brought her back to where she was and more specifically what little she had on. She scrambled back from the doorway with a flushed face.

"I'll get him." she mumbled as she hurried to the kitchen where Uncas was waiting for her with an expectant look on his face. When he saw her expression, his eyebrows narrowed. He came around the corner to see Magua still standing outside.

"_Aahsa_." he greeted evenly, giving Ali's arm a squeeze as he walked around her to the door. She hurried into the kitchen, trying to make herself busy and give them the illusion of privacy.

She couldn't believe that she had stood there, staring at him like a moron. She couldn't help it; Magua intimidated her with his harsh face, his rough voice and his disapproving stare. The few times she had been around him he had been cold and sour to her; she didn't know how to act around him. She certainly didn't know how to act when she greeted him in nothing but his nephew's shirt in the cold light of morning. Ali felt like he could smell the sex on her and was judging her harshly for it.

"I came to continue our discussion from the other night," she heard Magua's voice saying quietly, "but it appears I already have my answer."

"It was just decided last night, _Aahsa_," she heard Uncas answer, "I didn't exactly have time to let you know."

Ali pulled her eyebrows inward in confusion. Why did his uncle need to know anything about their relationship?

"So this is your choice then?" Magua's harsh voice asked him roughly. "You're choosing this _yengees_ girl over one of your own kind?"

"Oh for the love of-" she heard Uncas grumble, "We are not living in the sixteenth century, _Aahsa_. If we want out people to survive, we have to be willing to branch out beyond the reservation."

"So go to _Flathead_ land or into Wyoming to the _Cheyenne_ reservation. Don't pollute our bloodline any more than it already is!"

They began to argue in _Algonquian_ then and Ali peeked her head around the corner to see them gesturing wildly as they fought. Magua caught sight of her and she jumped. Uncas followed his uncle's line of vision when he saw the man's mouth pull into a tight line. His eyes caught Ali's and she blanched, feeling like an intruder.

"She will _never_ be accepted here," Magua warned, his eyes still resting on Ali's. "You do her a disservice as well as your people."

"There are other white people who have married in here; she's not the only white person on the entire Res." Uncas argued back.

"Is this your decision then?" his uncle asked, finally turning his face back to his nephews. Uncas crossed his arms over his chest and faced the man squarely.

"Yes." he answered firmly.

They measured each other up from the space separating them, fighting a silent battle of wills as each waited for the other to break eye contact. They stayed like that until Magua let out a disgusted puff of air and shook his head.

"So be it," he muttered as he turned for the door, " but don't expect anyone to feel sorry for you when this _fling_ goes sour."

Uncas stood there as his Uncle stomped his way down the cabin steps, muttering to himself in _Algonquian_. Ali made her way over to his side feeling utterly bewildered, not sure what exactly she had just witnessed.

"What did he mean, about people not accepting me, I mean?" she asked quietly, when she felt like it was safe to speak.

"He's treating us like a married couple because you're living here now. It's an ancient custom that some of the older generations still cling to. He's implying that the tribe won't accept you."

They watched Magua's car pull out and drive away before Uncas went over and silently closed the door. Ali walked over to wrap her arms around him from behind, giving his middle a squeeze.

"Should I not move in yet?" she asked quietly. "We can hold off if this is going to cause you trouble."

He turned in her arms to wrap his around her waist and she snuggled her cheek in against his chest, feeling anxious about what she had just witnessed. She knew his uncle didn't approve of her, and that a few of the residents didn't love her presence on the reservation, but she hadn't thought it would be such a widespread issue.

"Don't worry about me." Uncas told her reassuringly. "It's just a bunch of antiquated notions from someone who still lives in the past. We'll be fine, I promise."

"So, we're married in the eyes if the tribe, huh?" she asked, titling her head back to look up at him.

"Something like that." Uncas answered, smiling.

"So… is that like having permission to have more sex?" she asked with a playful smile.

He grinned back and leaned down to kiss her passionately. It was a long time before they managed to have breakfast at all.

(Authors note:

Well, that ends Part One of this story. Part Two will skip ahead to July and carry through until Fall. Then Part Three will be the end of fall and beginning on winter. It took 21 chapters to get to Part 2, so I have no idea how many chapters will be in Part 2 and 3 at this point XD

Not a lot to talk about here. I wrote the shower sex scene mostly just to have a funny break between the two scenes. Considering their height differences, show sex shouldn't actually _be_ that hard for them but I was writing it from the standpoint of someone who has never been able to achieve it (yay for oversharing). The little conversation where he talks like a stereotypical Hollywood Indian was added at the suggestion of one of my friends ^^

I decided to have her move in with him, that was not originally going to happen until the end but the more I wrote the more convenient it was to put them in the same living space. I was going to have her keep an apartment that Cora was going to take over when she moves back to town but, meh…doesn't really matter in the end.

Ok, now we will move on to the not so honeymoonish part of their relationship. Now we get to get into the nitty gritty issues of a biracial couple (I have a lot of experience in this department XD), how the res/Magua responds to Ali, Nate and Cora's relationship will come into play here, as well as a change in Ali's career. So all that and more in Part 2)


	22. Chapter 22

Part 2

Summer and Fall

**(Warning: moderate sexual content ahead)**

Ali looked at her reflection in the bathroom mirror and frowned at it. The water dripped off her face and onto the counter. Her hand rested on the towel she was going to use to dry off with but she couldn't seem to make the appendage pick up the towel and use it. She and Uncas had just had another argument and she dreaded having to go to the Indian days Celebration in Browning while keeping up the pretense that everything was alright.

Things had been so good between them these past three months, especially after Nate had joined Paul at the Oil Rig in Butte. When he couldn't return to his job in sanitation for several months due to the shoulder injury, they had been forced to let him go. Fortunately for Nate, one of the Oil Rig workers had been irreparably injured and Paul recommended his cousin for the job. The new influx of cash had allowed Uncas to get some of the accumulated debt under control though he still had to maintain the second job with the logging company. Ali had offered to help out so he could stop killing himself everyday but Uncas wouldn't hear of it.

Ali had come into some money a month after her father died. When she was cleaning out the apartment she found papers that indicated her father had had a modest life insurance policy. Feeling confused, she had called the insurer about it and the man on the other end had informed her that yes; Edmund Munro had a policy for $400,000 of which she and her sister were the beneficiaries. All she had to do was send them proof of his death and they would both be issued a check for the lump sum of 200,000 apiece.

Ali had been shocked, she hadn't even known her father _had_ life Insurance policy and neither had Cora apparently, because she had been just as surprised when Ali called and told her about it. The money was nothing to sneeze at either. Ali used a small portion of it to buy herself a used car, a Volkswagen Rabbit, so that Uncas wouldn't have to drive her everywhere anymore. The little Rabbit lived happily next to his beat up old Junker in the driveway.

She sighed as she lifted the towel to pat her face dry but couldn't stop frowning. Money, or more specifically accepting money, was becoming a problem between them. She had enough sitting in her bank account from the insurance check that she could help ease the financial burden he was still shouldering, but every time she brought it up he either bit her head off or wouldn't talk about it.

This morning she tried offering something different. She had given him a business card she had gotten from one of the galleries in town that specialized in Native American art. She thought that if she offered him something that didn't involve taking money from _her _specifically that it might help, but he had reacted just as tersely as he always did.

"How many times are we going to have this discussion?" he had asked her with obvious annoyance after she slid the card across the counter to him. "I've told you before; Indian art stays on the reservation."

"Uncas," she had sighed, trying to get him to just _listen_ to her, "this gallery is run by someone _from_ a reservation. Doesn't that make it in any way more tolerable?"

"Not to the surrounding community." he informed her tiredly. "Please, Ali, let it go. I'm not selling my work off the reservation and that's final." Then he had stomped off to his studio and left her sitting there feeling like she's been struck. She had thrown the card into a drawer and gone to take shower. Now, here she was, feeling raw and hurt as she looked at her reflection in the mirror and she didn't have a clue what to do about it. A knock on the door made her jump.

"Did you fall in?" Nate's teasing voice called out. Ali let her shoulders sag and tried to rally so he wouldn't hear the hurt in her voice.

"Almost done! Sorry, Nate." she called out, even to Ali her voice sounded forlorn. Nate was silent behind the door for a moment and she hoped he had missed the catch in her voice but no such luck.

"Hey, are you all right? You sound…not …happy." he asked with concern.

Ali sighed again as she pulled a towel around herself as she went to open the door. Initially, She had been worried that her moving in would be an unwelcome intrusion for Nate but, as she was discovering, he wasn't bothered by much of anything. In fact, he was gone most of the time as it was. Either working or hanging out with Paul and his buddies or on the phone with Ali's sister. Nate and Cora had been calling and texting each other since the end of March.

Cora and Duncan had officially broken up about a month after Cora returned to Texas. Once they were officially over she had entered into a long distance relationship with Nate. Ali still remembered the phone call she had received the night that Cora and Duncan were forced to admit it wasn't working anymore.

"Well, it's over." Cora had said matter-of-factly. "We had a long talk when he came in from work and agreed we should end it."

"Should I say I'm sorry?" Ali remembered asking, suddenly unsure how she was supposed to respond to this new development. Cora hadn't sounded upset; she had just relayed the news the same way one might state they were going to the grocery.

"Naw, we both knew it was over." Cora responded. She was silent for a few seconds before casually adding "Apparently, he's been seeing the hostess at the restaurant behind my back."

"Wait, what! Not the busty, dimwitted one?" Ali had exclaimed, nearly choking on a bagel she'd been eating at the time. She heard Cora laugh on the other end.

"Yep, the same one. I wasn't even mad, Ali. If I didn't know it was over before all this then I certainly know it now."

After the breakup she had entered into a more 'official' thing with Nate, coming in and out of town randomly to see him. They had been dancing around each other even before everything with Duncan went belly up and Ali thought that was part of the reason why Cora didn't mind Duncan cheating on her as much. She had been a hairs breath away from doing the same thing to him.

Ali was pretty certain that, come fall when Cora's lease was up, she'd be making her way back to Montana. The only annoying thing about Nate and her sister dating was that it had made Nate so accustomed to gauging Cora's moods that he could now pick up on shifts in Ali's too. She couldn't hide her feelings from either of the men in the house anymore.

"Another argument?" Nate guessed when he saw her face; he knew they'd been having disagreements lately. He had been present for a few of them. Ali nodded, there was no point in lying, Nate would only hear _that_ in her voice too.

"Money again?"

"Yeah, though not in quite the same way that we've argued recently." she tried to explain. Nate gave her a questioning look and she leaned against the door frame as she began to explain. "I saw a studio in town that sells Native American art. I talked to the owner and I mentioned that Uncas paints so they gave me a card, but when I tried to give it to him he just…" she trailed off, afraid she would cry. Once she got herself under control she took a shaky breath and continued.

"Every time I bring it up he gets defensive. I thought maybe if it was a gallery run by someone from a reservation that he'd at least consider it but…" she held up a hand to indicate how _that_ had gone.

"Well, some ideas are harder to let go of," Nate told her sympathetically, "moving you in here was a huge step for him. I mean it basically disregarded our Uncles advice which is considered disrespectful and I don't think the tribal council was too thrilled about it either."

"What is it with the tribal council here?" Ali asked in exasperation, she'd heard some of Uncas older cousins talking about them at dinner about a month ago and they had all looked spooked. When she had asked Uncas about it, he had answered her evasively before changing the subject. "They're like the invisible bogeyman that no one wants to talk about."

"Oh, I assure you, they're not invisible and they can make life very hard for the lot of us if they get a burr up their asses."

"What aren't you telling me?" she asked him, hearing something in his voice that set off warning bells in her head. He had that same pinched look one his face that Uncas had gotten when she asked him. "Uncas got that same look when I asked what your cousins were talking about. Spill, Nate. I'm tired of being left in the dark."

"It's…complicated." Nate said as though he were being very careful with his wording. She shot him a look and watched his mouth tighten.

Look," Nate said, trying again, "All I'm saying here is try to understand why he's not budging on this. The Tribal Council could take away his health care if they wanted; raise the taxes on the land, any number of petty things to make his life more difficult if they feel like he's forgetting himself. Just give him time on the gallery thing. Don't push; he'll come around when he's ready."

All Ali could do was stare at him as this new information settled into her brain. Nate hadn't come out and _said_ that the council was threatening Uncas, but both Uncas attitude of late and Nate's evasive response led her to believe they were. In the end, all she managed to do was nod even though Nate's words had not made her feel any better.

She stepped aside to let him into the bathroom then crossed the hall to the room she and Uncas shared. Ali looked around at the space that had truly become theirs in the past three months. There were little touches that were both his and hers, reminders of their time together. As she looked around their space, she felt like she'd caught him in a lie. Ali knew that Uncas wasn't _actually_ lying to her but it appeared that he _was _keeping something from her. She felt like she should say something, address the issue in some way, but she didn't know how to.

Instead, she tried to focus on getting dressed. Out of the closet she pulled one of her newest and breeziest sun dresses. She had bought it toward the end of spring and had planned to wear it the second the weather was warm enough. Unfortunately, an injury to the Meniscus in her right knee during rehearsals for 'Sleeping Beauty' had thrown a monkey wrench in that.

Thankfully for Ali, she had only been resigned to crutches for a short time while it healed so it hadn't completely cost her the lead. Though she was afraid she might have to leave off auditioning for the role of 'Clara' when it came time to choose dancers for 'The Nutcracker'. The knee was paining her more than it should lately and if she tore the Meniscus she could kiss her dancing career goodbye.

The weather in town would be scorching today, so it was the perfect time to try out the new dress. It was yellow, with white fish that resembled Koi swimming all over the skirt. The dress itself fell to just above her knees and made the paleness of her skin glow. Once she was dressed, she pulled her long hair into a braid and sat on the edge of the bed as she tried to pull together the resolve to go to this thing.

Her arguments with Uncas aside, she didn't relish having to go play nice with people who didn't like her. Thankfully, the Indian Days Celebration was so large and attended by so many people, both Indian and white, that she hoped to get lost in the sea of faces. Most of the residents on the reservation weren't outwardly unkind to her. Everyone was civil enough; in fact most of the residents just choose to ignore her.

One incident, however, had forced Ali to give up on going to the reservation grocery on her own anymore. She had been making her way to her car back when she was still on crutches, holding her purchase clutched against the crutch handle, when she heard the peal of tires behind her. About the time she was looking over her shoulder to see what was going on, something wet was thrown against the back of her head. She had watched in utter shock as a group of teenagers peeled past her and out of the parking lot, laughing as they went.

She had reached a hand to touch the back of her head and it had come away covered in raw egg. She had been utterly shocked; who did that to someone they didn't know, let alone someone who had done nothing to them? Ali had told Uncas about the incident when she got home and he had been livid, demanding a description of the car. His uncle had figured out who it was from the description and had a 'talk' with the teens responsible but she never heard anything more about it.

Magua was another issue entirely. Ali had been to a couple of family dinner at Uncas' uncle's home in the past few months and those dinner were something she had come to dread. As soon as they sat down to eat, the entire family began speaking in _Algonquian_ in a way that pointedly excluded Ali from the conversation. Uncas had picked up on this as well and hadn't been particularly thrilled with it but filial piety kept him from being able to say very much. Ali was trying to learn some of the language on her own but it was so monosyllabic and had such long sentences that she could only understand every two or three words and _that_ was only if the speaker talked slowly.

She scrubbed at her face in an aggravated, anxious gesture. God, why did everything have to be so fucking difficult?

"Shit." Uncas voice sounded from the doorway, bringing her face up from where she had it hidden in her fists. He was standing in the hall, looking at her with such an aggrieved expression that she almost _did_ cry. He probably assumed she was in tears because he had been short with her. He came into the room and walked over to wrap his arms around her, looking apologetic.

"I'm sorry, baby," he said quietly, pulling her in against him, "I know you were trying to help, ok? Please don't cry. I hate it when you cry."

Well, that _did_ make her cry and not entirely because he had been curt with her earlier. It was the way he said it, in that voice that wanted to make everything better even when his reasons for being annoyed with her weren't totally unjustified. She knew she had been pushing him about the gallery thing for a while now. Her suspicion that the Tribal Council was giving him a hard time about her presence on the reservation made her feel even worse. She wrapped her arms around him and buried her face in his neck.

"No, I'm sorry," she sniffed, trying to get control of herself, "I just wanted to help and I thought that if you didn't want to take money from me, maybe a gallery run by another reservation resident would be more preferable."

She decided against pointing out that he didn't let her help with money at all aside from things like phone bills and electricity. Hell, he didn't even charge her any rent to speak of. It was something that she found to be both chivalrous and vexing.

"You do plenty around here." he told her reassuringly. "You do the majority of the cleaning _and_ all our laundry, it's not fair to expect you to clean up our financial situation too."

Wasn't it though, in a way? They knew they were in this for the long haul even if they hadn't talked about it in so many words. It came up in small ways, like when they had gone to the lake with Nate and Cora during one of her whirl wind visits and had laid on a blanket together discussing bringing their kids there someday, if they ever had any. If they were going to be together for the foreseeable future, didn't that make his problems her problems?

"I love you," she told him quietly, trying to keep the frustration out of her voice, "I want to help."

"You didn't cause the debt, Ali," Uncas reminded her patiently.

"Uncas, is the Tribal Council giving you a hard time because I'm here?" she asked him cautiously. She couldn't sit there and pretend she didn't suspect something was going on. If they were going to spend the day at the festival, she wanted this issue aired out. Uncas face tightened and he sat back to look at her.

"Why would you ask me that?" he asked, his eyebrows drawing in suspiciously.

"Nate mentioned that they can revoke your healthcare or raise your taxes for doing anything they consider inappropriate. Is that happening to you because I'm here?"

"Nate shouldn't have told you about that." he answered tersely, looking upset.

"Why didn't _you_ tell me?" she countered, still trying to keep her voice even. She didn't want to have another argument with him; she just wanted to understand _why_ he hadn't told her what was going on.

"Because there's nothing to tell." he answered tightly. "Nate shouldn't have brought that up; it's not your problem."

"Uncas," she said, turning his face back to hers, "We're in this together, remember? I don't plan on going anywhere so if you're in trouble I want to know. Please, don't shut me out."

He looked at her for a long time, studying her face before giving a sigh and a resigned nod. He pressed his forehead against hers and she gave his waist a gentle squeeze.

"Alright," he relented after they sat there like that for a while, "you're right, I just didn't want to upset you with it. They haven't done anything but they are re-evaluating my blood quantum status."

"Blood quantum status?" Ali repeated, confused. "What does that mean?" Uncas shoulders rose and fell with another sigh. She watched his mouth tighten.

"It means they're re-evaluating my degree of ancestry within the Blackfoot nation. If they decide that I'm not ¼ degree of Blackfoot then I could lose my health care." he revealed. Ali jumped up off the bed in anger.

"That's horse shit!" she cried indignantly.

"That's how it works out here," he corrected, "it sucks but it's within their authority to re-evaluate anyone at any time."

"How can they possibly get away with doing that?" she stormed. Uncas reached out to take her hands and draw her back down onto the bed.

"They're the Tribal Council and there are too many of us to pay for everyone, it's how they cut corners financially. It's irritating but I don't think they're going to find much in my pedigree to use against me. Most of my relatives have been of Blackfoot stock for the past sixty years." Uncas tried to reassure her though it didn't make her feel any less angry.

"This is all because I moved in here, isn't it?" she asked guiltily, looking down at his hands that still held hers. One of them disappeared and found its way under her chin, tilting her face back up.

"Alice Munro, this is not your fault and I don't want you trying to take responsibility for it either." Uncas told her firmly. "I knew what I was getting myself into when I asked you to move in and I don't regret it. Let the council do their thing! Let's just try to have a good day, alright?"

"What if they do decide your status isn't good enough?" she whispered, not able to let go of the worry as easily as he was asking her to.

"Then I pay for it myself." he responded. "No big deal."

"It's still not fair." she muttered, her eyes going down.

"Neither is life but there's no point in dwelling on it any more than necessary."

There was nothing more Ali could say to that, even though she didn't feel any better than she had before he walked in. She didn't like that this was happening to him because of her and she had no power to do anything about it.

"This dress is new." he commented, probably trying to find a way to change the subject. She let him because she couldn't think of anything else that would make the previous conversation any better.

"Oh, yeah," she said quietly, looking down at the skirt, "I got it before I hurt my knee; I haven't been able to wear it until now."

"Hmmmmmm," he made an discerning noise in his throat as he leaned down to study the hem of the skirt, looking at it as though he had found something wrong with it. Since she was sitting, the skirt rode up higher on her thighs.

"What?" she asked with a worried frown, leaning forward to figure out what he saw. Uncas surprised her by darting his head under hers and catching her mouth with his. The hand that had been holding hers, slid covertly under the skirt to fondle her through her panties. Ali gasped against his lips as he flexed his fingers and then pulled back to give him a halfhearted frown.

"Hey, no fair using sex as a distraction," she told him, "I'm still not thrilled with you for hiding the blood status evaluation from me." Uncas grinned back at her as he pulled her underwear aside and stroked her wet skin teasingly, eliciting a moan. He knew damn well that she couldn't think about much of _anything_ when he did this, which was _why_ he was doing it. Sometimes she hated that he knew her so well.

"How about as an apology?" he countered huskily, diving in to kiss her again. Part of Ali was still unhappy about the whole 'Keeping the council issue a secret from her' thing, but that was getting pushed to the back of her mind as his tongue danced over hers and she parted her legs for his probing fingers despite herself. He was just pushing her back onto the bed when she heard the shower turn off so she pulled back from his lips long enough to tell him to shut the door. He did so and then returned to the bed to apologize to her some more.

By the time they left for the festival, Ali was feeling much happier. Most of that was because they had had very passionate make-up sex and she was always chipper in the afterglow. Once their passions were spent and Ali redid her mused hair, they all piled into the truck and drove into Browning. The Indian Days Celebration was larger than Ali expected, with people from all walks of life wandering from food stand to food stand or making their way toward the rodeo.

They met up with Sinopa near one of the BBQ stands and Ali was only vaguely surprised to note that Cassie was not with her. There was a small possibility that the red head was at another stand getting a burger but, the more likely explanation was that she hadn't come at all. They had been fighting a lot lately, something Ali was beginning to understand all too well.

"No Cassie?" she asked in a tone that indicated she already knew the answer. The tall, dark haired girl pursed her lips and shook her head, Ali patted her shoulder sympathetically. If Ali was having trouble with the treatment she received from Uncas Family then that was doubly true for Cassie. The only difference was that Ali tried to bear it with a polite acceptance and Cassie tended to fly off halfcocked.

"No, we had an…incident…with my mother the other night and, well, let's just say I don't know where we stand right now." Sinopa answered tightly.

Cassie and Sinopa didn't know where they stood most of the time. In the last three months they had broken up more times than Ali could count. A lot of it had to do with the fact that Cassie had no respect for Sinopa's culture or her profession. Cassie didn't have time for anything that wasn't about Cassie and Ali doubted that she and Sinopa could make the relationship work outside the bedroom.

"Sorry, hon." Ali said quietly, meaning it.

Sinopa looked sad for a minute but shook it off in lieu of trying to have a good time. They took Ali to one of the rodeo's first, which was painful to watch. Ali grimaced as one of the ranch hands was thrown off a bucking bull and nearly trampled. She wondered how anyone found this entertaining. Next they wandered a few of the souvenir booths and Sinopa picked up a figurine for Cassie despite the fact that she was still angry over whatever had occurred between them.

By the time the sun was starting to set, they met up with Paul back at the food stands and headed out to where the yearly Sundance was held. Uncas held onto Ali's hand as they pushed their way through the crowds and Ali noticed with some discomfort that there were older residents giving them the stink eye. She lowered her eyes, trying to ignore it as much as possible. The sound of drums drew her attention away from the ugly looks she was receiving and soon enough she forgot all about them.

Uncas had told her that, for many years, outsiders had been restricted from seeing the sun dance due to a couple of white people being assholes and ruining the experience for everyone else. He had told her that the dance itself lasted for four days and was sometimes considered akin to a vision quest. When asked if he had ever participated, Uncas had laughed and informed her that when you were a fire fighter, dancing for four days wasn't an option. Ali studied the dancers chosen for this year's festival and thought that they looked more than a little worn and could now truly appreciate why Uncas had never done this himself. Despite the weariness, the men danced on, determined to finish what had been assigned to them.

Ali was so focused on watching the dancers that, at first, she didn't hear the commotion a little ways down from her. She glanced to her right when she felt Uncas arm tighten around her shoulder. His posture next to her suddenly became defensive and when she turned her head, she saw two older gentlemen arguing heatedly with Paul. At first she didn't know what was going on but then one of the men pointed directly at her and said something angry in _Algonquian._

Paul's hands were up in a 'we don't want trouble' gesture that was doing nothing to assuage the situation since the two men obviously did. She watched, alarmed as one man muscled past Paul to make his way toward her and Uncas. Uncas put her behind him and got in the man's path. They began to argue harshly in what she had come to identify as 'High Blackfoot' and couldn't fathom what the man's problem could be with her. There were plenty of other white people in the crowd and they didn't seem to be taking notice of them, only her. Why? Ali stepped to the side, taking Uncas arm and giving it a shake.

"Uncas, what's going on?" she asked him, shouting to be heard over the noise. He kept his eyes locked on the other man who held a plastic cup of beer in his left hand. The man's hateful dark eyes flashed to Ali's and he glared at her angrily.

"Nothing, just a minor disagreement." Uncas answered lowly. The man with the beer sneered at these words.

"Ain't nothing minor about you bringing _yengees_ trash to live on our reservation." he slurred meanly. Ali's mouth fell open in shock, wondering if she had misheard him.

"Go home, Lonny," Uncas said threateningly, only Ali was able to pick up on how much he was struggling to sound reasonable. "You're drunk. You and Rodger should leave before a minor disagreement becomes a serious one."

Lonny narrowed his eyes at Uncas and took a step forward; Uncas tried to push Ali behind him again.

"You should watch your tone, son," the man threatened back, "I'm your elder, after all."

"No, what you are is a rude pain in the ass!" Nate said as he stepped up on Uncas' other side. "Go home before we make you go home."

Lonny looked between the two younger men uncertainly as Paul stepped over as well, folding his arms and glaring. The one they called Rodger hung back where Lonny had left him and seemed to be doing nothing more than shooting dirty looks at everyone. Finally, Lonny spit on the ground at their feet and mumbled a curst in _Algonquian_.

He might have just stomped away then if he hadn't taken one more look at Ali, who still stared at him in utter shock from her place by Uncas arm. She didn't know what about her presence set him off again but he suddenly spit out another harsh sounding curse in _Algonquian_ and lifted the hand that held the beer. Ali didn't have time to move or say anything as Lonny threw the remainder of his beer right into her face.

(Author's note:

Well, here is the beginning of part 2, which like I said, is the not so honeymoonish part of their relationship. I got the ball rolling on a few things here that will come up later. We revisited that whole 'Not wanting to sell art off the reservation" concept, we got into issue's Ali is having with the locals/Uncas family, and a little into the tribal council thing.

Blood quantum status is a real thing on reservations and it's true that they can take your health care if they decide you're not 'Whatever' enough. This isn't going to come to anything for Uncas; it's just something annoying that's going on in the background. Also, aside from a mention in the next chapter, Lonny and Roger aren't coming back either. They're just two drunk assholes that I threw in for dramatic purposes.

Cassie and Sinopa's relationship will come up on and off throughout this section. These two kind of parallel Uncas and Ali, though in Sinopa and Cassie's case, the relationship is more volatile and not very healthy. I've also introduced the injury to Ali's meniscus which (hint hint) will come more into play later.

I think that's about all I have to say right now. Found a few more songs that remind me of characters in the story but if I mention them now I run the risk of running the remainder of the story for everyone. So I'll save them until they're relevant. Thanks for reading and I hope you all will enjoy the rest of what part 2 has to offer ^^)


	23. Chapter 23

Uncas couldn't say exactly what went through his mind as the amber liquid from Lonny's cup hit Ali's square in the face because the world turned an angry red. Ali stumbled back in shock, her hands flying to her eyes as Uncas launched himself at Lonny. Nate moved to intercept him and Uncas was vaguely aware of Paul quickly moving to Ali's side and guiding her away. People moved out of the way around them, jumping backwards with shouts of alarm as Lonny barreled forward. He muscled Nate aside, knocking him over and caught Uncas painfully in the stomach with his shoulder. The two men grappled as Uncas was knocked back a step.

The taller man gave painful grunt as he wrenched his arm out from where it was trapped between himself and Lonny. He punched the older man in the side of the head. Lonny gave a yelp of pain and fell back long enough for Sinopa to get between the two men. She was shouting angrily in High Blackfoot as the tribal Police, Magua in the lead, made their way toward them through the quickly parting crowd.

Lonny recovered from the blow to the head to see Sinopa leaning over him, giving him hell, and that set him off all over again. He flew upright like a jack in the box and backhanded her roughly with at cry of "mind your own business, dike!"

Sinopa hit the pavement hard, her head cracking against it as she lay there, unmoving. The sound her skull made against the ground broke through Uncas anger induced haze and even seemed to break through Lonny's alcohol induced one. They blinked down at the pretty doctor who lay sprawled on the ground between them.

"Sinopa!" Nate exclaimed as he ran to kneel next to her, trying to see how badly she was hurt. Uncas went to kneel next to her as well when Sinopa groaned and opened her eyes, blinking up at them.

"Sinopa, can you hear me?" Nate was asking as she looked at him with unfocused eyes. He held up a couple fingers in front of her face. "How many fingers?"

Magua had just reached them as Sinopa was fumblingly answering Nate's questions. The crowd around them was pointing and muttering to one another as the Tribal Police tried to move everyone back.

"Can you sit up?" Uncas asked his friend quietly as she touched a hand to the back of her head and winced before nodding. The two men helped her into a sitting position and, once she was upright, Magua came to kneel in front of her.

"You ok there, Hadley?" he asked bringing a pained chuckle from the girl.

"Wow, there's a name I haven't heard in a while." she quipped then groaned, leaning her head forward. Nate and Uncas each held one of her arms as she put her head between her legs.

"Someone care to fill me in on what happened here?" Magua asked as he looked back and forth between the two men.

"Lonny had a beef about Alice being here." Uncas explained as he rubbed Sinopa's back gently. "He threw his beer in her face."

Magua grunted in irritation as he got to his feet. As much as he didn't care for white people, he cared even less for his own starting trouble with them. He turned to face Lonny, who was being restrained by a guy named _Keme_, and folded his arms over his chest as he faced the drunken, unfocused eyes of the other man.

"How much have you had to drink, _Anipisi_?" Magua asked him, pointedly using the man's tribal name to get his attention. "Did you drink enough to forget that outsiders are welcome at the Sundance again?" Lonny glared and spit blood out the side of his mouth onto the asphalt.

"Don't play dumb, sheriff," Lonny shot back to him, "You know this has nothing to do with the fucking festival." The older man glared over at Uncas where he crouched near Sinopa and Uncas glared right back at him "Your nephew brought trash onto our lands, white _yeengese_ trash!"

Uncas wanted to hit the man again but he made himself stay where he was. It wouldn't help the situation for him to fly into a protective rage now. It hurt his pride to let the words linger in the air, let the slight to his girlfriend go unaddressed, but he did what he had done for the past three months and swallowed his anger, focusing on something else instead.

"And how does the girl's presence affect _your_ life, Lonny?" Magua countered. "Is she taking your job away, is she dating your son? How does her presence make one lick of difference to you?"

"Makes a difference for all of us!" the other man bellowed. "They're everywhere now, polluting our bloodlines, making us disappear more and more each year…" he said more but it had turned into unintelligible ramblings. Magua shook his head and rolled his eyes, gesturing for the Tribal Police to take the drunken man away. As Lonny was lead off, Magua turned to Roger who still stood there, though now he wore a lost expression, unsure what to do as his brother disappeared.

Roger had always had _something_ wrong with him though no one could ever pin down what. He was easily led by anyone that he saw as having the least bit of authority. Magua's harsh features softened as he walked over to the man and laid a hand on his shoulder.

"Got anyone that can take you home, Rog'?" he asked kindly. Roger was leaning around the sheriff, trying to see where Lonny was going.

"Is Lonny in trouble?" he asked meekly, as though he hadn't heard Magua's question at all. Uncas felt a stab of pity for the other man, who had stood there through the entire scuffle, looking lost and confused. Roger had very few thoughts or opinions of his own. When his brother was mad, he was mad. When Lonny was happy, Roger was happy. Without his brother, he didn't know what to feel about anything. Magua sighed and patted the man's shoulder reassuringly.

"No more than normal." His uncle mumbled and gestured to another officer to take care of Roger. As the simpler man was led away too, Magua came back to kneel in front of Sinopa.

"Alright, 'Nopa," he said, using the affectionate nickname tenderly as the girl lifted her eyes to his; "You need to go to your mom's clinic."

"No, I'm fine, it's not a concussion." she told him and grimaced again as she touched tentative fingers to the back of her head again. "It'll be one hell of a bruise though."

"Yeah, it figures your skull would be harder than pavement." Nate joked, grinning as he and Uncas helped Sinopa to her feet. She weaved a bit and they steadied her. Uncas locked eyes with his uncle over the girl's head.

"I told you she would never be accepted here." Magua told him quietly. "When are you going to realize you're doing her a disservice by continuing this romance?"

"_Aahsa_, C'mon," Nate interjected "Lonny makes a scene every year; this has nothing to do with Ali."

But it did, even if Uncas didn't want to say it out loud. Nate's words were true in a way; Lonny was always the one who started trouble at any major gathering. Unfortunately, this year he had managed to lend credence to Magua's warning about how Ali would be received by the surrounding community. This incident coupled with the one at the grocery, were making Uncas question how fair it was to keep her there with him.

"You know how I feel about this." Magua finished tightly and then released Uncas from his gaze. He turned it instead to Sinopa, who still looked dazed. "It's probably best if you take her home." Magua didn't specify which _her _he was talking about but the two men didn't stick around to make him elaborate either. They led Sinopa through the crowd until they came upon Paul and Ali, who had parked it back by a nearby food stand.

The whole front of Ali's dress was wet and stained, the bodice now a sickly yellow brown. As they approached, Uncas noted that her eyes were red from the beer that had been tossed into them. Ali looked over as they approached, looking flustered and angry and Uncas couldn't blame her for either.

"You alright?" he asked when they reached her and Paul.

"I'm fine but what about you?" Ali asked, coming forward to wrap her arms around his waist in a hug. He gave a sharp intake of breath as she pressed against where Lonny's shoulder had slammed into his ribs. She didn't miss the sound and pulled back to look up at him in alarm.

"I'm fine." Uncas told her reassuringly as he squeezed her shoulder. "I can't say the same about Sinopa though. Idiot got between us."

"Hey, you're the idiot." she said back affectionately before weaving and stumbling. Nate kept her from falling and pulled one of her arms around his shoulders.

"I think you might want to reconsider that visit to your mom's clinic." Uncas told her, not liking the way she was grimacing and stumbling around.

"And have to explain what happened here?" she gave a bark of laughter "No, thank you!"

The laughter apparently made her head hurt and she groaned, leaning forward. Paul pulled his mouth into a tight line and marched over to pull her arm from around Nate's shoulder. She gave a little cry of protest as he swung her up over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes and made his way toward the parking lot with her. Nate, Ali and Uncas shared a look that was a mix of surprise and amusement before following them. Sinopa loudly demanded that Paul put her down and pounded on his back with her fists.

"I will," Paul told her calmly, "once we get to the car."

"Paul Blackstone, I will beat you bloody if you don't put me down right now!" Sinopa shouted. Paul smirked and glanced over his shoulder at her indignant face, his eyebrows going up.

"Considering that you can barely stand upright, I would love to see you try." he countered sarcastically. "Now, we can do this the easy way or the hard way, Sinopa, but one way or another you are going to your mother's clinic. Which way is it going to be?"

They studied each other for a moment longer before Sinopa pursed her lips and slumped in indignant defeat over his shoulder.

"Fine," she conceded sullenly, looking like a petulant child, "but I'm not telling her how it happened." Paul's shoulders rose and fell with laughter as he continued carrying her like a bag of flour to his van. Once they were out of earshot, Ali tugged on Uncas sleeve. When he looked down at her, her eyes were confused.

"I don't understand, why doesn't she want to tell her mother what happened" Ali asked him. "She doesn't have any reason to protect those men."

Uncas heaved a sigh as he tried to decide how to explain. How did he make her understand that telling Hurit how the head injury _occurred_ meant admitting that she had been involved in a fight over Ali, even in a roundabout way? Hurit wasn't anymore thrilled about Ali's presence on the reservation than anyone else and would probably use this newest altercation as justification for why Uncas shouldn't be dating her. She would also more than likely use the fight as a springboard to justify why Sinopa shouldn't be with Cassie.

"Because that would mean telling her _what_ the fight was about and I don't think Sinopa wants to get into it with her mom about the pro's and cons of dating white people." Nate answered for him, watching in amusement as Paul dumped a still sulky Sinopa into the front seat.

Uncas shot his brother a hard look for his astute, but not very sensitively delivered, explanation. Then he looked at Ali as his brothers words sunk in, feeling his heart sink with them. Ali had a very bad habit of blaming herself for things that were not her fault. It was the main reasons why he hadn't told her about the Blood Quantum re-evaluation, he knew she would try to take personal responsibility for it. As her eyes lowered to look at her feet, he knew it was happening again anyway.

"I see." Ali said quietly. "She's not protecting Lonny and Roger, she's protecting me."

"No one said this was your _fault_." Uncas began quickly and seeing her expression and trying to reroute what he wanted to say. "Ok, the fight was _over_ you but you didn't do anything to _cause_ or escalate it. Lonny is a drunken ass. He does this every year."

"But it happened because I was here." Ali countered, looking tired. "He was mad because I'm living on the reservation with you and Sinopa got hurt because of it."

Uncas didn't know what to say to that but knew that he should say something. Ali didn't wait for him to respond however. Instead, she gently extracted herself from his side and began making her way toward his truck in tense silence.

"Thanks a lot, Nate." Uncas muttered to his brother, who looked like he didn't know what was going on.

"Ali!" he called, chasing after her. "Ali, c'mon, baby…could you just…" Uncas didn't know what he wanted her to do, or what he was trying to say. He didn't like the sudden feeling that he hadn't done enough, even though he had gotten into a fist fight with the guy for the explicit purpose of defending her. It wasn't just this incident that was weighing on him either, it was several, and he hated to admit he was starting to question the decision to move her onto the reservation.

"This is going to keep happening." Ali said dully when he caught up to her and turned her around to face him. "It's not going to end here. There may not be any more altercations as bad as this one but… is this how it's always going to be?"

"Ali, Please?" he pled; trying to find some way to remedy a situation that felt like it was flying out of control. "I'm doing the best I can here."

"What am I supposed to do, Uncas?" Ali asked him, her voice exasperated. "I love you, but am I supposed to sit back and take this from, not only your family, but strangers too?"

All he could do was blink at her as three months' worth of pent up emotions came spewing out. Her eyes were hard as they stared up into his, shining with frustration and hurt.

"I can't defend myself because it will make _me_ look disrespectful and you can't do anything because it'll make _you_ look disrespectful. Now I have residents throwing things at me. I don't know how much more of this I can take."

Uncas stared into her flustered and hurt eyes feeling completely stunned. More than that, _he_ was starting to feel disrespected now. What did she think he had been doing for the last three months while his family treated her like a poor relation? Did she really think that he hadn't done anything to show he didn't appreciate it?

"Are you seriously accusing me of doing nothing?" he asked her in a quiet, bewildered voice. Ali tightened her jaw as she stared back at him, not wanting to inflame the situation but the look in her eyes did all the talking. It said clearly, 'I know you haven't.' He shifted from bewildered to angry.

"Do you think you're the only one getting the shaft from this?" he countered, his voice taking on a harder, flinty quality. Ali's eyebrows drew together as though she couldn't fathom his meaning. "You think that I'm sitting pretty with the surrounding community, with my family, while you're taking all the abuse?"

Ali shook her head as though she were going to say something but he never gave her the chance. He was pissed now. He was pissed because she was treating him like he hadn't chosen _her_. As though he had entered into their relationship and then threw her to the wolves. He was pissed because she was acting like she was the only one bearing the brunt of their choice to be together and he was pissed that she didn't seem to appreciate what he _was_ doing.

"I may not be having things chucked at the back of my head or drinks thrown in my face and I may not be blatantly left out of family conversations but I do not, in any way, have it easy." he informed her angrily. She looked stunned and taken aback by the sudden shift in their positions. Now he was the angry, frustrated one and it was her turn to be stunned and bewildered.

"I may not be able to speak my mind the way Cassie might when my family is rude to you but that doesn't mean that I've let it slide."

"What are you talking about?" she countered. "Whenever they start speaking in _Algonquian_ so that I can't understand anything you just sit there and act like nothing's happening."

"I answer everything they say to me in _English_, Ali! That's about as much as I can do without looking like a disrespectful _asshole_!" Uncas tried not to shout the words at her but his voice did go up an octave or two. Ali took a visible step back, looking stunned by both his tone and his words, as though this idea had never even occurred to her.

"When I go anywhere now… the market, the firehouse, hell even to the logging area…people don't speak to me unless they _have_ to!" he blurted out, laying it all on the line in his sudden rush of anger.

This revelation, much like the re-evaluation of his blood status, was kept from her out of fear that she would blame herself for it. The only reason he was telling her now was so that she would have some idea of what their relationship meant to him. He needed her to understand that he took all of the ire on _willingly_ because he loved her. It was the price he was _choosing_ to pay to be with her.

"My crew mates at the firehouse will barely look at me and, when they do speak to me, it's coldly. I've known some of those guys since we were children and now I'm a virtual stranger. The logging company isn't much better." Uncas continued, forcefully lowering his voice as they were now being stared at by people who were passing by, looking for their cars. Even Nate was staring at them.

"I didn't know." Ali said so quietly it was almost a whisper. "You never told me any of this."

"Well, I'm telling you now!" he answered tersely. "You're not the only one affected by this, Ali, so don't treat me like I didn't choose _you_!"

Uncas stomped away from her then and didn't look back to see if she were following. He was too angry and too hurt by the implication that he hadn't done anything about the situation. He angrily wrenched open his car door and slid into the seat as Ali and Nate made their slow, quiet way to the truck. When everyone had slid in and buckled up, he started the car and lowered the parking brake with an angry slap of the hand.

It was a tense car ride back to the cabin, with no one speaking to one another. Nate sat awkwardly by the passenger side window and looked out at the landscape as though trying to pretend he was not there. Ali occasionally shot Uncas worried and furtive glances but he didn't look back at her. He kept his eyes pinned on the road as he simmered quietly in his seat.

When they arrived at the cabin, it didn't get much better. Uncas disappeared into the bathroom to take a shower and left Nate and Ali to talk about what had gone down if they choose to. In the shower, Uncas stood under the shower head for a long time, doing nothing. He stood there with his hands pressed against the tile as his mood shifted from anger and hurt into a weary sort of regret. He didn't regret what he had said to her but he was starting to regret the way he had said it.

The niggling feeling of regret was not gone by the time he finished showering. Uncas lay in bed while Ali took hers, mulling over everything that had happened between them, the altercation with Lonny and their argument in the parking lot. He thought about what might have led her to believe he was sitting back and letting her drown in the reservations prejudice. To be fair to Ali, other than tonight's fight with Lonny, he hadn't exactly _told_ her what he was going on over on his side.

He had thought, naively maybe, that his actions would speak for themselves. They would have, had she been any other girl on the reservation who knew what to look for. That right there was the caveat, wasn't it? Ali wasn't just another girl on the reservation. She was a white girl who had very little understanding of how to meander through the cultural whirlpool that was the Blackfoot nation. It was something his uncle had tried to point out to him early on and he had ignored the warning because he wanted the relationship to succeed.

Uncas didn't even want to end their relationship now, even with this newest argument, but he couldn't help but wonder if he should. Aside from everything that had happened lately, they were very good together. They made each other laugh, the sex was phenomenal, and arguments like these were a rarity.

_I don't know how much more of this I can take_

Ali's words echoed in his head and he shut his eyes for a minute, rubbing them as the pain of her words rolled through him. He might still be stinging from her misconception that he wasn't defending her but he had to admit that he didn't know how much he could _expect _her to take. He knew that she was culture shocked more than anything else. She had gone from a place where she was part of the majority to being the odd man out. Now she was living in a place where there were very few white people and the people she _was_ interacting with expected her to conform and know the rules.

_You're doing her a disservice by continuing this romance_

His uncle's disapproving voice warned him. Was Magua right? Was this romance already proving itself to be doomed? Uncas didn't want to admit defeat or prove the people that thought this whole thing would fall flat on its face right, but he was also beginning to wonder if it would be better for both of them to end it before it got any worse.

"I'm sorry." Ali's soft voice said next to him. His eyes popped open and his hand jumped off his face as he started to see her sitting next to him. Uncas hadn't even heard her come into the room let alone sit down. He had been too involved in his uncomfortable and chaotic thoughts to pay attention. Looking up into her face, which looked so chastised and guilty that it was heartbreaking, he felt some of the tension in his chest ease. She was extending an olive branch, trying to mend whatever had just broken between them so, heaving a soft sigh; he opened his arms for her.

"C'mere." he said softly. She did, she curled against him, resting her head on his chest while he ran his hands through her newly blown dry hair. They didn't say anything for a long time; only lay cuddled against one another as they thought their own private thoughts.

"I didn't know the community was treating you badly too." Ali's contrite voice said from his chest. Uncas laid a hand over one of hers, which rested on his sternum and looked up at the ceiling.

"Well to be fair, I didn't tell you about it." he conceded, giving her an out, albeit a small one.

"I'm sorry I acted like you don't care," she continued, "I know you do. I was angry that Sinopa got hurt and frustrated with the situation and I…" he felt her cheek tighten as she pulled her lips in. Finally, she turned to rest her chin against his peck and look at him with her deep blue eyes.

"You were right, though; I have been acting like I'm the only one suffering here. I didn't catch onto how you were responding to it with your family."

"I should probably apologize for that too." he said back. "I expected you to pick up on something that you're not used to looking for."

"Well, neither of us has done a very good job of communicating lately." she commented, laughing tiredly. He nodded his head in agreement; he had to give her that one.

"So how about this," she offered, bringing up her other hand and resting both on the peck her chin had been on, "I will try not to make invalid assumptions if you stop keeping me in the dark about what's going on. Deal?"

"Deal?" He agreed, feeling better. He didn't know what he would have done if she had just come in and gone to sleep next to him in stony silence. Her concession that she had not been totally in the right made it easier for him to admit his hand in it as well, maybe now things could go back to some semblance of normal.

"Will Sinopa be alright?" She asked with a grimace which made Uncas laugh.

"You think a disagreement with the pavement is enough to keep Sinopa down?" He asked her her, smiling. Ali grinned back.

"I meant with her mother," she clarified, "and cassie." This last she added with a tight expression, Uncas got the feeling that Ali didn't much approve of Cassie's treatment of their friend.

"Well, Sinopa and Hurit have never quite seen eye to eye on anything so I doubt this will be any different. I don't know about Cassie."

"How can a mother and daughter who look so much alike, who share the same profession, butt heads as much as they do." Ali asked him.

"Because they _are_ so much alike. I think Hurit is actually mad at Sinopa for coming back here. She was so proud of her for going to college; she's the only one of Hurit's kids who did, you know?" He explained, thinking back to when they were in high school and Sinopa had gotten accepted into college. Hurit had practically burst with pride that her child was going to do something with her life.

"She didn't want her to come back?" Ali repeated. "But doesn't the reservation need more doctors?"

"That's not the point. The point is that she wanted her to have a successful life somewhere else. A lot of us never leave, Ali. We just stay here and have kids and get poorer and poorer with no end in sight." Uncas explained a bit dismally. Ali tilted her head to the side and studied his face.

"Did you ever think about leaving?" she asked curiously.

"Yeah, after dad died and I couldn't stand the thought of this place anymore but I ended up staying because it's all I know. My job is here, Nate is still here, it didn't seem like a good enough reason to go. Besides, my life isn't too bad. I have a house, a car, you," he squeezed her shoulder when he said this, "it could be much worse."

Ali didn't comment on that, she just mulled his words around in her head with a yawn. After a minute she snuggled back down against his chest with a contented sigh.

"Well, I can't say much about Hurit's reasoning but I hope she tells Sinopa she's proud of her. I get the feeling that she doesn't know." Ali mumbled sleepily.

"Me too." He murmured.

Uncas and Ali fell asleep holding each other and Uncas hoped that all the emotional drama was behind them now. He fell asleep hoping that tomorrow would be a brighter day and the grass would be greener and all that other stupid crap they tell you to make you feel better. He didn't realize then that another complication was looming on the horizon, one that would make them ask hard questions about their future. For that moment however, he slept a dreamless sleep and thought about nothing at all.

Authors note:

(Well, that was a surprisingly uncomfortable scene for me to write. The fight that Ali and Uncas had is one I had with my husband several times over the span of our dating career. I tried really hard to be fair to each of them in terms of how they feel but that can get hard when you're dealing with feelings of hurt on one side and cultural loyalty on the other.

The most important part for Uncas here is when he says 'Don't treat me like I didn't choose you.' He did choose her. He chooses her over his family, over his tribe, and he is paying a price for that choice. Uncas is the odd man out in his own tribe now. He has become an outsider with her.

Ali, for her part, had no way of seeing this until he told her because it wasn't something that was glaringly obvious to her. She just saw the community shooting them hard looks and assumed they were all for her. It's easy to assume you're the only one bearing the brunt of a situation when you don't know what to look for. That's one of the things I tried to show here.

I also talk about an issue on the horizon at the and there which will be introduced in the next chapter. Its not anything bad exactly, I don't want anyone to think these characters are going to die, or get raped, or anything like that. It's more of an opportunity that comes up that can't easily be ignored and will be explored for the remainder of part two.

Once again, thanks for reading. I hope you all enjoy this rather stressful chapter. It was a necessary chapter for the sake realism but a difficult one. Again, reviews are always appreciated and I'll see you all in the next upate.)


	24. Chapter 24

**Disclaimer: I don't own Journey or any of their songs.**

The 'Rose Adagio' was the most notoriously difficult dance for a ballerina to perform. It was also the dance that, if pulled off, could make a ballerina's career. The piece involved two separate occasions wherein the ballerina playing 'Aurora, was to stand in the _attitude derriere _position. The first occasion involved maintaining the position and the second involved maintaining it and spinning in place. The position called for the ballerina to stand on one leg with her arms lifted above her head and her leg lifted as high as she could raise it behind her. She must hold this position while still maintaining her balance.

When Ali decided to audition for the role of Aurora she had practiced the _attitude derriere_ position for _hours_ both at the studio and in the living room of the cabin. Finding the right center of balance was key and Ali had fallen many times trying to find hers. The height one could achieve with the lifted leg was also important so she stood on her practice pointes trying to achieve just such a lift.

When Ali felt secure enough with the _attitude derriere,_ she had moved on to the _Promenade_, wherein Aurora was to resume the _attitude derriere_ position and hold steady while being twirled by four different male dancers. This was the area where Ali found it the most difficult to maintain her balance so she had enlisted Uncas help.

She thought back to those early May days, before things had started to feel so weird between them, when she had stood on Pointe and Uncas would spin her in a circle by holding onto one of her hands. She remembered the fine tremble in her balancing leg as she tried her best not to fall. They had done all of this 'rehearsing' to a Journey C.D. since Ali didn't have the music for the Adagio. It mattered very little since she wasn't dancing so much as standing in place. Ali thought she would never be able to listen to 'Any Way She Wants It' again without feeling the urge to go on pointe.

Ali thought of this more relaxed time because it was easier than thinking about how things were now, a mere four and half months into their relationship. Since their argument in the parking lot of the Indian Days Celebration and her apology following after, they had existed in a state of quiet awkwardness that Ali knew was more from her end than his. She was embarrassed about her unintentional disregard for what he was dealing with. She was also embarrassed and, if she was honest, beginning to have doubts about her ability to handle everything.

Despite their promise to try and be more open with one another, Ali felt a niggling sense of doubt that she could keep doing this, especially if things didn't change. She was afraid that she would lose her temper with his family, as Cassie had with Sinopa's, or be forced to leave the reservation if things continued as they were. She loved Uncas dearly, she wanted the relationship to be successful but…No, Ali told herself as she shook her head, unwilling to even finish that thought. No, she wasn't going there until she had to. Instead, she thought back to when Uncas had helped her master the promenade.

"You ready?" The Uncas of those better days asked as she slowly offered him her hand.

"I think so." Ali had gritted out through her teeth as he took the offered hand. He slowly walked around her, forcing her to spin with him.

"You look like you're not doing so hot." he had commented, looking concerned. "Is it the knee?"

"'Well, it's not the most comfortable position to maintain." Ali had puffed out as they completed the circle. Uncas let go of her hand too quickly and set her off balance. He caught her before she could collide with the hard wood floor.

"You sure the solo is worth all this?" he had asked as he righted her. "It's not good for that knee and it seems like a lot of work for one small section of a ballet."

Ali remembered grimacing against the discomfort and rubbing her knee for long moments before she felt recovered enough to try again. Her doctor wasn't thrilled with her for going out for such a taxing part, he would prefer she take a year off and rest the over stretched tendon, but Ali couldn't _afford_ to take a year off. Dancing _wasn't_ just her job, it was also a career.

"It's the most important part of the ballet, Uncas," she had explained in pained exasperation, "if I don't get this right, I'll never move beyond _Prima Ballerina_. Mastering the Rose Adagio could make my career."

Most titles in a company ranked from lowest to highest; which was the _Corp de ballet_ at the lowest to _Prima ballerina assoluta _at the highest_. _Ali was currently ranked somewhere between _Sujet_ and _Prima ballerina_. Having two solos under her belt would push her that much closer to the top.

"You do know we live in Montana, right?" Uncas had reminded her with a kind smile. "Not to down your aspirations or anything, but there's not much in the way of talent scouting that goes on here."

He had been right of course, but it didn't stop Ali from trying. She had worked to be a _Prima ballerina assoluta _since she was four years old. She had gone on Pointe at eight and, like most young girls, had gone through the rigorous training of a prominent dance school. Dancing for a small Dance troupe in rural Montana, she would likely never achieve anything higher than _Prima ballerina_ in her one small corner of the world, but she was determined to get the best out of her career that she could.

Ali smiled at the memory of her elation when she finally achieved the leg lift without a hint of tremble to her position leg. She had managed to maintain her balance as Uncas spun her four times in a row. To test herself further, Ali had enlisted the help of Uncas, Nate, Paul, and one of Paul's friends, Ty, to act as the four suitors for her experiment. If she could maintain her balance with these unknown men, who didn't know the proper way to release her hand, she could maintain it with professionals.

Uncas, of course, spun her first. He had done the spin so many times by that point that he knew exactly how to release her hand in a way that didn't set her off balance. Nate came next and released her a tad more abruptly than he should have, but she still maintained her position. Next was Paul, who looked awkward and uncertain as he spun her too quickly. She was proud to say that she didn't falter even with the bumble. Finally there was Ty, who stopped in front of her and asked rather sheepishly,

"What do I do exactly?"

Ali had smiled at his nervous face, trying to put him at ease as she gracefully extended a hand to him, palm up with the finger ever so slightly curled.

"Just take my hand and walk in a circle." she requested a little breathlessly. "I'll turn with you."

Ty did as she asked, walking slow, holding her hand tighter than was necessary. When they completed the turn he asked, "What now?"

"Just release my hand…but slowly, if you could?"

He did as she asked, and she gracefully pulled her arms above her head again as the Journey CD concluded with 'Faithfully'. Uncas had given an encouraging whoop when she returned to a normal position and came over to hug her in congratulations. Even the other three men looked pleased that they had been able to help.

"Does this mean I have to start calling you 'Aurora' now?" Paul had joked.

Ali grinned at the memory. The hours of practice had paid off and she had landed the part of 'Aurora' easily, much to the chagrin of Andi, who had desperately wanted the part as well. Andi would have made a fine 'Aurora', if Julia and David had given her the chance.

Ali felt that Andi wasn't chosen for the lead because she was a less competent dancer than Ali, but more because Julia and David had a certain look in mind for _their_ Aurora. Ali was petite and blonde and fit their ideal whereas Andi was tall and dark haired and better suited to the role of the 'Lilac fairy.' It was a minor lead but, as Andi had said herself, she should be happy with what she got.

Now, as Ali waited at the top of the stairs for the man playing the chamberlain to give her the cue to descend, she took a deep breath and tried to put herself into the right head space. This was the final performance of 'Sleeping Beauty' and just as important as opening night. She needed to dance the next few scenes as flawlessly as possible.

_Treat every night as though there were a talent scout from a major company out their watching._ Julia's strict voice lectured. _Though David and I would hate to lose any one of you_, _this could be your chance for greatness._

Ali saw the Chamberlin's gesture and plastered a thrilled smile onto her face before dancing down the stairs, ignoring the complaining twinge in her knee. She flitted out onto the stage in a show of youthful enthusiasm; dancing back and forth excitedly.

She thought to herself '_smile, look excited, and jump_.' This was the part of the story where the kingdom was celebrating Aurora's birthday. She was supposed to appear gleeful, appreciative, and above all else, young. Ali tried to relive the excitement she had felt when all her hard work had paid off and she had been offered a place with the company. She tried live in that moment. So much of dancing was like that, finding the right emotion and conveying it to the audience with your movements.

Ali danced her way across the stage, her costume a pink myriad of what Uncas had called 'glittery, glittery girl stuff'. The sequins catching the light like little diamonds and reflecting it back, eliciting an appreciative gasp from the audience. The tutu was gauche to be sure, pretentious even, but Ali had to admit that the costume had never made her feel anymore ephemeral than it did at the moment. She finished her entrance dance with a flourish in the middle of the stage to the sounds of applause.

As the four suitors began gathering at the left hand side of the stage, Ali danced happily over to Cassie, who was playing Aurora's mother, the queen. The tall girl leaned down to embrace Ali and whispered 'your smile is cracking' into her ear before releasing her. The two shared a quiet moment wherein the queen gently cupped her cheeks and smiled at her with pride. From Ali's side however, Cassie was raising her eyebrows in a way that said 'wide smile, Ali, wide smile.'

Cassie was not overly thrilled with the part she had been given for this production. Like most of the other girls in the company, she had auditioned for the role of Aurora, but lacked the discipline to make herself marketable for the part. Cassie had implied, to Ali at least, that she felt she was entitled to solo because she was graced with the prefect dancer's body.

Cassie wasn't the _easiest_ dancer to work with even in minor leads and Ali doubted that Cassie had what it took to become a _Prima ballerina assoluta_. By telling Ali her smile was cracking she was both being helpful and being a little catty.

Cassie released Ali so that she could dance her way over to embrace the king who whispered "Ignore Cassie, she's in a tif, another fight with the girlfriend." Ali fought the urge to roll her eyes and forced her face to relax into a more natural smile.

Sinopa and Cassie always seemed to be fighting these days and Cassie wasn't good at leaving her angst at the door. Shaking off Cassie's drama, Ali focused on ignoring her already complaining knee. It was paining her more than it had in previous performances. The state of her knee concerned her for the coming 'Rose Adagio', which she would have to perform in the next few moments.

The king introduced the four suitors with a flourish and they bowed as one unit as the cords for the Adagio began. Ali knew these four men in the everyday world as Ben, Alex, Daniel, and Reggie. Here, they were nameless, just four men seeking the princess' hand.

Ali twirled out shyly toward each man, reaching the sandy haired Ben first. She kept her eyes demurely down as he twirled her in a _promenade_. She moved to each man like this, playing the coy and shy, young princess who was too innocent to understand that she was expected to marry one of these men. Julia had hammered this idea into her head during rehearsal, when she would occasionally flash a smile to one of the suitors.

"_Demure, Alice!"_ she could still hear her instructor intone. "_You are young, innocent. Maintain decorum, you cannot flirt like a common trollop!"_

When Ali reached Reggie he placed his hands on her waist and leaned in just enough to whisper "Do you want to try the triple _pirouette_ or is the knee not going to put up with it?"

Most of the dancers knew that her meniscus was having issues and if Cassie noticed her smile cracking then so had Reggie. He was trying to offer her an out if she thought she couldn't do it, subtly implying he would take the blame for her not completing the three turns. Ali gave him an almost imperceptible nod to indicate she would try and made a mental note to thank him for the unspoken offer later.

The triple pirouette was popular but not a perquisite like the _attitude derriere_. She could have forgone it and simply done a double but this was the last night of the production and she was determined to make this performance memorable.

_There's not much talent scouting that goes on here_

Uncas words from before auditions came back to her and she set her jaw, trying to let the music drown them out. She had to treat every night like there was a talent scout in the audience. She had to be a professional; she had to dance through the pain. It was with this mantra that Ali assumed position and Reggie spun her, once, twice, three times. She forced her smile not to turn into a grimace of agony. Soon the agonizing twirl was completed and Ali danced back to the middle of the stage to prepare for one of the hardest parts of the performance.

She assumed the _attitude derriere_ position and waited as each man came to take her hand. This position did not hurt as much as she had expected it to but it also didn't require her to do anything except keep herself upright. Once the final suitor reached her, she engaged in another triple spin before dancing with each suitor separately. She was allowed more forward smiling now as she presumably became more comfortable with each man.

Toward the end of what Ali had come to think of as the 'getting to know you' dance, Reggie lifted Ali Above his head and held her aloft as she gestured with her arms, as though giving permission to the surrounding suitors to come forward so she might get to know them better. Ever so slowly, Reggie lowered her back to the stage, setting her down gingerly and only releasing her when he was certain she was stable.

Soon each suitor approached her with a rose which she accepted with a smile and flourish of girlish gratitude. When each of the flowers were in her hands she made her way to Cassie with them who accepted them more sharply than was necessary, saying nothing. Ali _again_ tried not to roll her eyes as she finished with the 'getting to know you dance', receiving more flowers which she deposited at the feet of the king.

Now it was time for the main _Promenade_. Ali took a deep breath and danced over to the waiting suitors, hopping quickly up onto her leg in the correct position. It was Ben that spun her first, followed by Alex, then Daniel, and ending as always with Reggie.

"Doin' good, baby girl?" he asked her through his smiling teeth. He didn't wait for her to answer but walked her in the turn. Ali didn't know how she kept from screaming; will power, stubbornness, biting her tongue, whatever it was, she completed the final _Promenade_ and another triple pirouette before the Adagio ended to thundering applause.

Blessedly, Ali got to leave the stage for a little while to collapse into a chair with a groan. Julia was soon by her side and Ali braced for a lecture about her leg height on the first _attitude derriere_. She had been unable to achieve the leg height that Julia expected from her and still keep her balance. She inwardly winced, preparing for the worst when the taller woman handed her a bag of ice for her knee and smiled at her appreciatively.

"Wonderful form, my girl!" she complimented. "And three triple pirouettes! You have outdone yourself with this performance."

"I…" Ali began, blinking up at her instructor in astonishment. It wasn't like Julia to give this kind of praise. Usually the best she could expect from the wiry woman was a 'You didn't fall flat on your face, good for you.'

"I…._uh_…well, thank you." Ali stammered. Julia looked as though she were going to say more but the music for the _Corp de ballet's_ sequence was wrapping up. She took back the ice and gave Ali one more encouraging smile as the girl struggled back to her feet and prepared to finish Act 2.

Ali put her all into the solo she danced when she returned to the stage. She spun, she leapt, she flourished and she tried not to show how much it all hurt. She was never so grateful for the scene in which Tyler, now dressed as _Carabosse_, handed her the spindle. This had been the part of the Ballet that Uncas told her he couldn't help but laugh at. He had apparently laughed loudly enough that the people surrounding him had shot him dirty looks.

"I'm sorry, baby," he had told her at the after party, "but you looked like a ferret that was high on crystal meth."

Ali hadn't quite been able to make him appreciate the fact that her character had never _seen_ a spindle before. He had just laughed some more and she had shaken her head, agreeing with Sinopa that he was an uncultured sod. Ali did, however use his description to her advantage as she danced away with the spindle. When Cassie and the king acted as though they wanted to take it from her, she hid it behind her back and gave them an impish smile. Finally, they came to the scene where she was to prick her finger.

The dancers depicting the court, as well as the king and queen, surrounded Ali who acted as though she were growing faint. Cassie's gloved hands stroked and cupped her face in motherly concern as she whispered "could you be anymore, melodramatic?"

"Knock it off, Cassie!' the king, who was played by a guy named Morgan, hissed at her. He had now taken Ali's hand into his and was pretending to kiss the injured finger. "It's not her fault you and the Indian girl are on the outs!"

'Jesus Christ, again?' Ali thought to herself. Great, every time Sinopa and Cassie broke up she took it out on the rest of the company. It explained a lot about her unpleasant attitude tonight. Cassie always did lump whatever she was feeling for one issue in with another. Apparently, tonight she was going to throw her relationship ire in with her jealousy and take it out on everyone. Ali stood upright again and acted as though everything was better. Cassie took her hand as though asking if she were alright and instead hissed 'Tell Sinopa to come get her stuff next time you see her.'

Ali could only stare at her in amazement before she had to dance out again onto the quickly darkening stage and act as though she were growing tired and faint. How Cassie could go from catty attitude to asking for favors was baffling.

She made her way back to the left hand side of the stage and fell into a theatrical collapse as she was caught by Morgan, who lowered her gently to the stage floor. Ali's eyes were shut after this so she couldn't see what the rest of the dancers were doing. She knew from rehearsals that _Carabosse_ should be looking on smugly while Cassie ran about the stage in a show of motherly devastation.

She felt Cassie's arms lift her from the floor in a show of grief. To Ali her arms only felt cold and distant. Cassie was pissed and Ali felt it in the way Cassie released her back to the floor. She didn't drop her exactly but there was little gentleness in her release. Thankfully Morgan was there to keep her head from clunking against the stage.

Ali lay in place for the remainder of the scene. It felt nice in a small way, to be able to lie down after so much physical exertion. Soon enough, she was lifted from the stage floor by two other male dancers and carried off. Act 2 had finally come to a close.

Once backstage, Ali was once again seated with the bag of ice on her knee as Julia flitted here and there, trying to direct the _Corp_ girls, as well as manage where the props needed to be placed. As scene change went on behind the curtain, other ballerina's rushed past Ali to change their costumes or touch up make-up. Ali just tried to breathe through the burning sensation in her knee.

"Here." Morgan's voice said from her left. She looked up to see him holding out an ibuprofen and a bottle of water. Ali took both gratefully.

"Cassie was just being a jealous bitch out there." he said as she swallowed the pill and took a long drag from the bottle. "Don't pay any attention to her."

"What in god's name happened _this_ time?" Ali asked the half Kenyan man that had joined the company last fall. He stretched out his legs while holding onto the back of her chair.

"What normally happens? Mostly it's just Cassie being Cassie." Morgan answered offhandedly. Morgan and Cassie were roommates and despite his harsh words about her, he was her closest friend. Morgan knew how to maneuver around the moody girls rough patches pretty well but had most often ended up siding with Sinopa of late.

"Think they'll work this one out?" Ali asked him with a grimace as she shifted her knee. Morgan gave her a white toothed grin as he straightened back up.

"Don't they always?" he countered with a wink. Ali shook her head and laughed. Morgan was implying that all would be well once the two girls slept together again and he was probably right, sex usually cleared up their problems; at least for a little while.

Morgan excused himself then to have a small tear in his costume looked at and Ali got to rest for a while during Act 3, in which she was not present. She watched from her chair as Gage and one of the girls from the _corps_ were pulled onto the stage in a makeshift sled. There wasn't much of interest in this part of the Act 3. It was a hunting scene, much like the one from Swan Lake. As Gage danced around on stage, Ali had to hide her laughter behind her hand.

When Uncas had come to opening night, he told her that whenever Gage was on stage, all he could see was his overstuffed 'package' bulging out against the tights. It resulted in Uncas nicknaming Gage 'The Dancing Schlong.' After he had told her this, Ali was unable to un-see what Uncas was talking about. Every time Gage dropped into an _arabesque_ Ali's brain screamed 'package!' at her. It made Act 3 pretty hilarious actually.

Andi sauntered over to Ali's chair as she awaited the chords for her entrance and nervously tried to make sure nothing was out of place. The stiff, gossamer wings on her back shuddered as she fidgeted.

"You're going to do fine." Ali told her reassuringly. Andi got nervous every night before her solo, convinced she'd fall on her face even though she had yet to do so.

"I don't know if I'm nervous because I'm afraid of falling or because it's the last performance." Andi said back, forcing herself to stop fidgeting. "Next are tryouts for 'The Nutcracker'. God, maybe I shouldn't even audition."

"Of course you should audition," Ali admonished her, "You've wanted the part of Clara since you _started_ dancing."

"Yeah, well, Julia and David will probably choose _you_ just because you're tiny and blonde." Andi said back forlornly, echoing Ali's thoughts that the dark haired girl was over looked for aesthetics rather than skill. She didn't sound jealous or angry, merely sad. Ali laid a comforting hand on her friend's arm.

"They can't choose me if I don't audition." she pointed out.

"You're not going for it?" the other girl asked, genuinely surprised. Ali shook her head.

"Doctor Phelps wants me to rest my knee; he didn't even want me to go out for this role. I might try out for the head snowflake or something, maybe the sugar plum fairy. Just nothing as intense as this production."

Ali tried not to sound glum when she said this; she really didn't _want_ to opt out of the lead but as the doctor had told her, too much stress could permanently damage her meniscus. Taking it easy for one production wouldn't kill her career and she fully intended to go out for Cinderella when those auditions came around.

Still, it hurt the part of her that didn't want to admit defeat and forgo auditioning for Clara. She knew she could probably get the part but she also knew that she wouldn't be getting it so much on her own merit as on her appearance. It wasn't fair to Andi or the other dancers that she kept getting solo's just because she fit the director's ideal.

"You're sure you don't want to audition?" Andi asked her skeptically, raising an eyebrow.

"It's not about 'want' at this point." Ali mumbled back.

The chords for the Lilac fairy's entrance began and Andi had to leave her, looking back at her only once with a dubious expression. Ali watched Andi and Gage dance their Solo's before being loaded into and pushed around in a makeshift boat. The Lilac Fairy was taking Prince _Désiré_ to where Aurora was sleeping.

Once the stage darkened, Ali quickly moved from her chair to the bed that was set up for her behind the bramble and vine set. Cassie and Morgan and the other members of the court where busily crawling under gossamer fabric that was meant to represent cobwebs. Ali lay on her back on the fake bed, relaxing her hands on her chest and shutting her eyes as the music informed her that the brambles would soon be lifted to reveal the gorgeous stain glass cob web design that had cost nearly as much as the costumes.

She listened to the music she had memorized over the last three weeks; she knew that Tyler was now threatening Prince _Désiré_, she knew when Gage fell to the ground, and when Andi raised her wand to send the dark fairy away. She knew when Andi gestured for Gage to get up and she knew from the gasps of the audience that the elaborate set had been revealed.

Ali lay very still as she felt Gage's weight sett;e on the bed next to her, tried not to move as he took her hand and held it to his face, and then tried not to laugh when he whispered 'I really have to pee' in her ear. Her dance company was quite bad for pranks like this; trying to make each other laugh at pivotal moments in a production. Ali schooled her face as Gage left her side to perform what Uncas charmingly called his 'Derp dance'.

Prince _Désiré_ was supposed to act confused as to how to wake Aurora up and Andi was supposed to clue him in with a series of gestures. Ali supposed that, to someone who was not used to the whimsical qualities of ballets, Gage's responses made him look rather stupid. Once the 'Derp dance' was concluded, Gage came back to lay his head upon her folded hands, giving the illusion that he had kissed her.

Ali sat up with a startled flutter, looking about as though confused. Gage helped her down from the bed and she raced to embrace the members of the court, who were sleepily crawling out from under the gossamer fabric. Gage returned to take her hand as they both knelt before the king and queen and the music came to an end.

The last act of the Ballet, the wedding, had nothing all that interesting in it as far as Ali was concerned. She spent most of it seated off stage watching dancers dressed as all manner of beast dance one after another. Once she was changed into a gorgeous costume of gold and silver, Ali and Gage danced their final wedding dance and ended the production to a thundering of applause. Of course the main players all came back out for their curtain calls and took their final bows. Ali was just dropping into her final bow when she thought she caught sight of Magua disappearing out the side door.

Ali shook herself as she rose, why on earth would Magua be attending her production? She must have been mistaken; the bright lights were shining in her eyes after all. It was probably just another harsh faced man making a beeline for the restroom so he wouldn't have to wait in line when the other patrons left.

She hurried back stage and limped her way toward the dressing rooms to start the process of removing the caked on stage make-up. She was just about to descend the stairs when she heard Julia's voice ringing out over the backstage noise.

"I need you all to come over here a moment." she commanded, gesturing for the company to assemble before her.

Curious, Ali limped her way over to stand by Andi who still looked a little breathless from her final solo. The rest of the company made their way over and when everyone was gathered, David came over to join his partner, wearing a look of great excitement.

"First, I want to start off by telling you all how superb you were for this final production and how proud we are of the effort you have all put into this." Julia told them all warmly. "As you know, we will be having rehearsals in the coming week for 'The Nutcracker' but first, an announcement!"

Everyone leaned forward a little, wondering what the announcement could possibly be. Julia and David's faces were alight with excitement so whatever they had to tell the company, it was good.

"We have been given a great opportunity with the success of the last two productions," Julia began, smiling around at the group, "We have made enough money to finally realize the dream that small town studio's rarely achieve."

"Come on, spit it out already!" Andi whispered to Ali, exasperated with Julia's blatant attempt not to get to the point. Ali grinned at her friend before turning her eyes back to Julia who had paused for effect.

"Ladies and Gentleman, I am proud to inform you that for the foreseeable future, The Easton Dance Company will going on Tour."

(Author's note:

Yes, I know, another cliff hanger…I'm so bad XD I just didn't want to get too deep in logistics here because I'm not sure how I want to handle it yet. I'll get more into what all the touring stuff means a little in the next chapter but probably mostly in the one following Uncas POV.

Oh my god you guy's, I watched the 'Sleeping beauty' Ballet SOOOOOOOO many times for this chapter. I originally thought about doing another section of 'Uncas goes to the ballet' for this bit, but I decided it would be better to show the production from the POV of Ali instead. I don't like to repeat things I've done already just for the sake of extending chapters so I just threw a few of Uncas observations in here instead.

Now we've gotten to the complication I mentioned in the last chapter, which is that Ali's company is going on tour. I'll be carrying this issue along until the end of part 2. There are going to be lots of decisions to be made coming up for Uncas and Ali, lots of soul searching and deciding what you want. As Ali mentioned here, she's having doubts about her ability to stick it out on the reservation and Uncas has doubts about making her do so. There was also the conversation with Uncas in the last chapter where she asked him if he ever thought about leaving so that will come up again.

I focused heavily on Ali's career aspirations here because I didn't get into them much previously. Also I got into them here because it's going to come up more and more until we reach the end of part 2. According to my research, the Rose Adagio is really difficult to perform well. I actually didn't know anything about this ballet when I started but it did help me to write what you just read.

I added more in this chapter on Cassie and Sinopa and their relationship woes. I made Cassie pretty bitchy here and I did that with some trepidation. She's not _that_ bad in my mind but I think she's one of those girls that hide's their pain behind a defensive attitude. These two are going to come up a lot as we go through part 2 as well, since I'm kinda paralleling them with Uncas/Ali.

I think that's all I wanted to sat for this chapter. I might not get anything updated for the next week and a half because I'm going on vacation. If I have time/WiFi , I'll try to get the next chapter up but I can't promise anything. Otherwise I will see you all when I get back, ^^ happy reading!)


	25. Chapter 25

Uncas and Sinopa sat across from one another at the 'Painted Horse Bar and Grill', which was the only passable restaurant on their section of the reservation, and neither one of them looked happy to be there. Sinopa had called him after his shift at the firehouse ended sounding about as forlorn as he had ever heard her. She said that she and Cassie had fought the night before and subsequently had broken up. Again. Now, the dark haired girl sat across from him in the booth, holding a beer between her hands and frowning into it as though it were showing her a future she didn't much care for. Uncas just stared at the table top.

Ali and Cassie would be finishing up the final night of 'Sleeping Beauty' soon, Uncas thought as he glanced at the time on his cell. It was a fact that he was sure had not escaped Sinopa's attention either, since she had to go home to her mother's house instead of Cassie's now. The girl had spent the last hour alternating between staring at the clock or staring into her drink. She had barely touched her burger, pushing the fries around in the ketchup instead. They sat there, not talking, and contemplated the inanimate objects in front of them.

"So," Uncas sighed when he couldn't take the silence anymore, "How'd it go with your mom the other night? Did she freak out on you?" He felt like the need to talk about something _other_ than Cassie. Unfortunately, he had been hard pressed to find any topics that _didn't _remind Sinopa of her ex.

"Well," Sinopa began tiredly, "first she screamed at Paul for a while. Then when she finished with that, I told her part of the truth; that Lonny knocked me over and I hit my head on the pavement. I just left out what I was doing _when_ he hit me." She took an actual _drink_ of her beer then.

"She probably knows what happened by now, you know," Uncas told her, "The people here aren't exactly known for minding their own business." Sinopa sighed and slumped back against the booth wall.

"Yeah, that's part of the reason _why_ I don't want to go home," she mumbled before burying her head in her arms, "god, what a fucking mess!"

Uncas agreed with her on the 'fucking mess' part. Since the argument with Ali at the Indian Days Celebration, their relationship had become tense. Ali was quiet in his presence now, almost pensive. He suspected that she was embarrassed about her part in their argument. He didn't know how to make her feel any better about it either.

"Ok, enough about me!" Sinopa said in exasperation, bringing her head back up and rubbing the space between her eyes wearily. "Let's talk about something else, how are things on your end?"

"Weird." he answered, rubbing the back of his neck with one hand. "We had a fight after you and Paul left and, I don't know, Sinopa…I think that she still feels raw about it. I mean we apologized and made up but there were things said that still linger, you know?"

"Yeah, like what?" she asked, tipping the beer bottle to her lips and taking a swig.

"Things like 'she doesn't know how much more she can take'." Uncas revealed, frowning down at his hands where they rested on the table top. He studied his fingers where they attached to the hands that fought fires, created works of art, but seemed to have only a precarious hold on the one thing he wanted for himself. There was a strange irony in that.

"Wow!" Sinopa responded quietly, her eyebrows going up. She was quiet for a moment as she took in his words, then she shook her head and sat the beer back on the table. "At least she's trying, Uncas. Cassie doesn't even do that, not really."

"Why do you keep going back to her if she doesn't make you happy?" he asked her, folding his hands so he didn't have to look at them anymore. "Seriously, Sinopa, I know you have more self-respect than this."

"I don't know," Sinopa moaned, her face tightening, "maybe because it's not always like this, maybe because when Cassie's not feeling insecure she's one of the funniest people I've ever met. Maybe because the make-up sex is awesome."

"Make-up sex can't be worth the way you're feeling right now." Uncas said with a dry laugh. Sinopa gave him a pointed stare and smirk.

"See, you say that because you've never _had _make-up sex with Cassie." she reminded him, pointing at him with the tip of her bottle.

"True," he conceded, "but I still don't see how make-up sex atones for the fact that she doesn't appreciate _anything_ that you do."

"Look at it for her perspective, Uncas." Sinopa said, switching gears in her defense of Cassie. "I'm on call pretty much 24 hours a day and not just at the Clinic. I work at the reservation hospital as well."

"I had to leave in the middle of one of _her_ family dinners to go deliver twins!" she continued, talking with her hands. "Now, try to imagine that scenario in reverse and Cassie being the one to have to leave one of _my_ family functions. There's an unfair double standard at work here."

He had to admit that she was right. There was a double standard in terms of reservation family life and outsiders. Outsiders were expected to learn and follow all the rules and were judged harshly when they didn't. If Uncas had to leave a family dinner to go fight a fire, for instance, none of his family would say a word. At the same time, if Ali had to leave for something, he'd get a lecture about how he needed to control her. Sinopa was right, it wasn't fair.

"That incident was what last night's fight was about actually. Cassie said 'between your family and your pager, there's no room for me'." Sinopa revealed glumly. "I didn't even know how to respond to that."

"Ow," Uncas said back, wincing. "That's really harsh."

"It's harsh but it's not completely unwarranted." his friend sighed as she leaned back against the booth wall again. "Mom treats her the way your family treats Ali; she won't talk to her unless it's to criticize her or she speaks in 'High Blackfoot'." she paused to take a drink before continuing.

"At our last family dinner, when everyone started speaking in _Algonquian_, Cassie jumped up and said that if they were going to talk about her the least they could do was do it in English."

Uncas had to laugh at that picture. He could see Hurit's startled face and the equally startled faces of Sinopa's siblings as the white girl called them out. It would be regarded as totally rude and completely disrespectful but, in its own way, it was kind of brilliant. It would do Cassie no favors, of course, and would be used against Sinopa until the end of time, but there was something fitting about the pretention being laid out like that.

"It's not funny!" Sinopa said, affronted, as Uncas snorted and tried to stop the laughter from bubbling out.

"Oh, it's a _little_ funny." he said back, giving in and chuckling over the picture it created in his mind. Finally, Sinopa's hard glare melted into a smirk and then she too began to laugh. They chuckled over the incident for a while before falling once more into somber silence.

"Seriously, though," Sinopa said a few minutes later, "I don't know if we can make this work. She won't meet me in the middle. At least Ali apologized for her part in your fight. Cassie just gets indignant."

Sinopa went on to explain that when things were good between them, they were very good. How Cassie cooked her phenomenal meals so she wouldn't live on microwave burrito's at the clinic. She talked about how they would watch cheesy horror films together and pick apart the plot or insert their own dialogue into the scenes.

"God, that girl can cook!" Sinopa declared with a wistful expression. "She makes _Huevos Rancheros_ to die for. I'm really going to miss those."

"Then find a way to make it work." Uncas said with a shrug. "You obviously care about her; otherwise you wouldn't be putting up with her shit."

"The downside is that Cassie can also be catty and childish. There's a mean streak there too. Do you know that she broke the figurine I bought her at the festival? She winged it right at my head."

"Fuck!"

"I know." Sinopa said with wide eyes.

"Considering the kind of lives we live out here," Uncas commented, "I can see why you'd want to stick it out. It's hard to find someone who's willing to look past the stereotypes let alone eke out an existence here"

He fell silent after making this point, remembering the discussion from three nights before. He remembered Ali asking him if he ever thought about leaving the reservation. The question had been asked rhetorically, she hadn't asked him to leave, but it had lingered at the back of his mind ever since. Would he be willing to leave if Ali discovered she truly couldn't stick it out on the Res? He found the thought of leaving made his chest hurt, like he was firmly tied to the land and the land to him. If he left, he would leave a huge chunk of himself behind. He didn't know how he felt about that.

"Yeah," Sinopa muttered, running her finger around the rim of her bottle, "It's hard enough to meet people when you're straight, let alone Native American, but I don't know if she'll ever choose _me_, Uncas."

And there it was; the heart of the issue. Sinopa was willing to choose Cassie if push came to shov,e but was Cassie willing to choose Sinopa? Uncas and Ali had chosen each other and were facing the price that had to be paid for that choice. It was turning out to be a hefty price indeed.

"This isn't your problem." Sinopa said with a bark of laughter. "I shouldn't be putting this on you. I should just go home and eat ice cream and watch My Little Ponies on the Hub."

"You watch My Little Ponies?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh, shut up." she laughed and rolled her eyes.

"Well, if both our relationships go belly up, I vote you and I get married and live separate lives." Sinopa declared with a sudden grin. "Think about it, it would make both our families happy, we could do what we want. Win/Win, right?"

"Yeah, until they expected us to have kids." Uncas reminded her. Sinopa pulled a face that made him laugh all over again.

"Oh c'mon, you're the one that steered me around the rough edges of sex. I'm not that bad of a catch."

"Except that you have a penis," Sinopa shot back, chuckling, "I'm sorry but those things look like dongly garden hoses!"

They joked about ugly sexual organs a bit longer before they decided to call it a night. Uncas walked out the door with his arm draped over Sinopa's shoulder as if they were, in fact, a couple and didn't care what anyone thought. Sinopa was his friend, they knew what their relationship was and wasn't, so let people think what they wanted. He walked her to her car, where she turned to look at him after opening the driver's side door

"Ali does love you, Uncas," Sinopa reminded him, "so don't give up on something that could be the best thing you've ever had, okay?"

"Who says I'm giving up on anything?" he countered. Sinopa gave him an unreadable look.

"Just don't…." she began then shook her head as though thinking better of whatever she was about to say. "I don't know what I'm saying. I'm in a weird mood tonight, just ignore me." she climbed into her car, gave him a small wave and drove off in the direction of her mother's house. Uncas watched the car disappear before walking to his truck.

He drove home and mused over the conversation with Sinopa and the parallels he could draw between Sinopa and Cassie's relationship and his and Ali's. Both he and Sinopa were dating ballerina's and both of their significant others were having a hard time adapting to reservation culture. He thought about the idea that Cassie wanted Sinopa to choose her but didn't feel any particular push to do the same. He thought about Ali trying so hard to do what she thought everyone expected of her and wondered if maybe that wasn't part of the problem.

When he first met her, she was taking care of her alcoholic father because her sister had left; now she was living in his father cabin and was essentially taking care of him and his brother. She did both Uncas' and Nate's laundry even though he had told her it wasn't necessary, she kept the house clean enough that they could eat off the floor, and when she could, she cooked for them. Ali had spent so much time taking care of other people that he wondered if she knew how to do anything else. He also wondered if she subconsciously resented it.

Then he thought back to the early days of May, after her knee was healed enough for her to rehearse again, and he had helped her master that ridiculous position to the 'Best of Journey' C.D. He remembered her words about wanting to become a 'Prima ballerina something or other.' It was the first thing he had heard her say she wanted something for herself. Before that it had always been, 'I have to look after papa.'

Was she giving up on that dream for him now? He didn't want to be responsible for her doing that. It brought up some hard questions that he didn't have ready answers for and he was once again faced with the question of whether or not it would be kinder to let her go. If she really had a chance for something greater than reservation life, it wasn't fair of him to ask her to live a poor one in a place where she was unwelcome.

He was still frowning over these thoughts when he pushed the door of cabin open. He stepped over the threshold to find Ali vigorously scrubbing at the floor with a cloth, her hair piled up onto her head in a tight ponytail. She had pushed the coffee table and couch against the wall and was wiping at a floor scuff as though she could make it disappear with concentration alone.

"_Uh_, Ali, baby, whatcha doin'?" he queried as he leaned against the doorframe and watched her with amusement. She didn't look up at him; she just kept scrubbing at the floor.

"Cleaning." she mumbled back distractedly. Her tone wasn't sharp or angry but there was definitely an undercurrent of _something_ in it. His face shifted from amused to puzzled.

"I can see that, but the question is _why_ are you cleaning at 10 o' clock at night, especially when you just cleaned the floor yesterday?"

"Because…" she lifted her head to look at him and her eyes were…he didn't know. They weren't quite wild in her head but they weren't calm either. "…Because I needed to do _something_!" she blurted out with a slightly hysterical note to her voice.

Uncas pushed away from the doorframe, and pulled the door shut behind him before walking over to kneel in front of her. Ali looked flustered and twisted the rag in her hands tightly. He reached out to take it from her and she let it go limply.

"Ok, what's going on? You've been weird for days now. Is this about our fight at the festival because we already went over all that?" he asked her gently.

"It's not just about that, I…" she sighed and frowned and tightened her ponytail in aggravation. "I got some news tonight and I don't know what to do with it!" she revealed in a rush, speaking quickly in her agitation. She hopped to her feet and began to pace the room like a nervous cat.

"What news? What's going on, Ali?" Uncas asked climbing to his feet too. She was making him nervous, pacing like that. She looked anxious as she paced around the living room and thought over whatever it was she wanted to say. Uncas ultimately had to go over and take her by the arms just to get her to stop moving.

"Ali, talk to me. What the fuck is going on?" he asked her firmly.

"They're going on tour." she blurted out. Uncas narrowed his eyes not quite following her.

"Who's going on tour?" he asked.

"My dance company." she responded and sank down onto the couch that she had pushed back against the wall. She put her head in her hands and he stared down at her in confusion.

"Baby, I don't speak 'dance' so you're gonna have to be a little more specific. What exactly does that mean, going on tour?"

"It means," she began, speaking more slowly and raising her face back up so she could look at him, "that the entire dance company is going to travel to other states for our next few productions. It means that if I want to continue my career that I'll have to go with them."

Uncas could only stare down at her as his heart dropped into his stomach. He felt rooted to the spot as though his legs had grown vines and they were digging their way into the floor.

"It means that if I go with them, I'll be gone for over a year" she finished wretchedly.

Author's note:

(Ok, I pretty much ended this chapter the way I ended the last chapter…which I didn't _want_ to do. The major problem was that I didn't know how to end the scene where they talk about this. It's not an issue that's going to be easily cleared up, and I think the rest of the conversation might be better suited to Ali's point of view. I guess if worse comes to worse I can have two Uncas POV chapters in a row. We'll see what happens when I try writing it from Ali's.

Now we're going to get into the soul searching part of the story. We've already introduced the question to Uncas of 'Did you ever think about leaving?' and now Ali is being offered the opportunity to go. The next few chapters are going to have a lot of discussions about the things we want and what we're willing to do or not do for them. Should be interesting to say the least.

Now, a funny story from Vacation:

My husband got me Sims 3 recently and I played while our friends worked. I created the main characters from this story and set them up in a giant house and started setting up their careers. Ali got to be an actress because dancing isn't an in-game option, Uncas stayed home and painted (As did Cora but I made her play piano XD). Nate was the one that got to be the firefighter because there are no Oil Rigs in Sims.

Anyway, Nate got sent out on a fire call one day (I actually had to babysit him at work in this version versus just indicating how hard he works) and once the fire truck arrived in front of the burning Sim's house, Nate just stood there and laughed. He ignored every prompt I gave him to extinguish the flames and stood there laughing and clapping because he liked the house XD. It just goes to show that even in Sim's, Nate is not meant to be a firefighter! I just felt like sharing that because it cracked me up. This happened several times in the game too, even with his free will turned off.

Anyway, thank you all for being patient while I was on Vacation and I'm sorry this isn't longer. I was going to finish out the conversation (at least as much as I could) before ending it but it just wasn't going anywhere. It might not go anywhere from Ali's either but I just feel the need to get back into her head on this. I hope you all enjoy this overdue chapter and I will see you next time!)


	26. Chapter 26

Ali stared out at the reservation lake without really seeing it. She was seated in a plastic lawn chair, watching her sister and Nate play in the water with Uncas' young cousins. Cora had breezed into town on another whirlwind visit, 'just for the weekend' she said, and had somehow managed to charm Magua and most of his extended family. Ali had tried not to be hurt by the obvious snub but it was so glaringly obvious that she couldn't ignore it.

"It's because she's with Nate," Uncas had explained when he saw her face fall at their all too welcoming reaction to her sister and rather icy reception of her.

"He's your brother," Ali had pointed out glumly, "What's the difference?"

"The difference is that Nate is white." had been his only explanation.

So here she sat while Uncas meandered from family member to family member, and there were a lot of them at this reunion/barbeque, receiving warm greetings and salutations. Ali tried to ignore the fact that she was an unwelcome guest and endure the sordid mess, but her buried feelings of resentment were much more on the surface today. It would have helped if she could have distracted herself with pleasant thoughts but her mind just kept going back to the night she had told Uncas about the tour.

_ "They just announced it," Ali told him, numbly. She searched his face for a hint of what he was thinking but, as usual, he wore an enigmatic mask. She knew he must have been feeling as stunned as she was; it had certainly been the last thing she had expected to hear when Julia and David had gathered everyone together. She just wished he would have a reaction, any reaction._

_ "This is huge, Uncas," she continued in his silence, filling the void with her nervous chatter, "It's every dancers big chance and I…god help me, but I don't know what to do." _

That part was _still_ true, even a week later. There was a part of her, and she didn't know how large that part was, that wanted desperately to go. The other side, the one that wanted to be with Uncas, did not. If she were honest with herself, she wanted both Uncas _and_ her career. She was facing the reality that she could only have one of them and that reality was painful indeed.

_When Uncas gave no immediate response to her news she buried her face in her knees, wishing he would say something. She didn't even know what she wanted him to say. Did she want him to tell her to go for it and be excited for her or did she want him to get angry and demand she not go at all?_

_ "Do you….want to go?" Uncas finally asked. _

_His voice was so collected, and he spoke the words so slowly, that Ali knew he was being careful. He was trying not to show too much of how he was feeling until he gauged where she was at._

_ "Yes…No…I don't know..." Ali stammered from her hiding place in her knees. Frowning, she lifted her head back up to look at him. She knew her face must look a mass of contradictions._ _She was excited, scared, nervous, just about any emotion one could expect when their world is turned upside down. When their eyes locked she sighed and threw her hands in the air._

_ "I don't know what I want more!" the words tumbled out of her mouth in flustered outburst._

Those words, spoken in a moment of confused desperation, still echoed in her ears now. She heard them when she did normal, mundane activities. They lingered in her ears, and at the back of her mind, even when she and Uncas were having a regular conversation.

_"Could you pass the sugar?"_

_ "__**I don't know what I want**__**more**__!"_

_ "Could you pick up some more milk from the store?"_

_ "__**I don't know what I want**__**more**__!"_

They hadn't resolved anything that night and had been existing in a world of increasing tension ever sense. Ali's words had been like a punctuating clap of thunder; she had watched his already guarded face shut down, her words cutting through him like a knife. For a long time, he just stared at her and then slowly turned on his heel and walked toward the hall.

_"That's it?" she cried out, jumping to her feet and staring with wide eyes at the straight lines of his hair and solid set to his shoulders. "I tell you the company is going on tour, maybe me with it, and you just…walk away?"_

_ Uncas stopped walking but he didn't turn back to face her. When he spoke again, he still had that careful undercurrent lacing his voice. Ali knew him well enough to know she had hurt him; her honest, though not tactful words had cut him deep._

_ "I need to think, Ali." _

_Ali, not baby. It wasn't the fact that he left off his affectionate term for her that she found so alarming as much as the way he said her name in that moment. The lack of the nickname was suddenly a frightening thing, as though it were heralding an end to what they had._

_ "Uncas, please?" she whispered. There was a lot of pleading in that one, solitary 'please.' In that one word she was begging him to turn around, to talk to her, hell even to yell at her. In the beginning all she had wanted from him was a reaction. Now all she wanted was for him to not walk away from her._

_"You're not the only one affected by this," he reminded her quietly, "I just…need time."_

_ With that, Uncas continued down the hall and stepped into the bathroom, shutting the door quietly behind him. He left her standing there feeling like the floor was opening up underneath her, part of her wished it would._

Ali twisted a strand of hair between her fingers and bit her lip at the memory of that encounter. Before her conversation with him, before her mad cleaning spree, Ali had felt only a tingling rush of excitement. The company had let out a collective cheer at the announcement, hugging one another and talking excitedly amongst themselves. Even Cassie had come out of her angry reverie long enough to manage a grin. Ali had grinned too, until realization began to creep in as to what going on tour meant.

Despite her declaration of not knowing what she wanted, Ali knew that she _didn't_ want to be away from Uncas for over a year. She doubted their relationship could survive that kind of distance. Nate and Cora already struggled with that issue, which was _why_ Cora was putting out feelers for jobs in the surrounding area. Being gone for a year, being separated like that, would they still be the same people when she returned? What is she didn't return at all?

"Why the long face, _Odette?_" Paul's voice pulled her out of her troubled reverie. He flopped into a lawn chair sitting a little ways to her right.

"My sisters giving you the stink eye again or something?"

Ali blinked over at Uncas' cousin, whose black hair was starting to curl slightly in the humidity. It made him look younger than he really was, almost impish, especially with the teasing grin he had plastered on his face.

"What?" she said, startled, and then shook her head as her distracted brain deciphered his question. "No, no more than normal. I was just trying to be quiet and inconspicuous."

"_Odette_, you couldn't be inconspicuous if you tried!" Paul quipped, laughing and smiling to take any sting out of his words. "You're like the palest person here."

It was true; she really did stand out in the sea of dark faces. She was wearing the same yellow dress, now dry cleaned, that she had worn to the Indian Days Celebration, so her paleness was even more emphasized than usual. When she and Uncas were on better terms he said she looked like a frosted Christmas light, her hair shimmering in the sun gave the comparison more credence.

"Hey, are you alright?" Paul asked when she gave only a weak smile at his joke. He sat forward in his chair to peer into her face. "Seriously, are _Kanti_ and _Leotie _giving you the bum's rush, 'cause I can tell them to knock it off?"

Paul's two older sisters were not Ali's biggest fans. They hadn't been particularly welcoming the first time she had met them and had become increasingly icier as the months dragged on. Today, they were pretending she didn't exist, which was fine by her.

"No, they're ignoring me today." Ali responded as she glanced over at the stocky build of _Kanti_, Magua's oldest child, who was trying to corral a screaming three year old onto a picnic bench. _Kanti_ resembled Magua the most out of his five children; she had the same haggard and drawn features, the same stern expression. Uncas said it was because she practically raised the other kids after Paul's mom took off.

"She just never turned the mom thing off, I guess." Uncas had said by way of explanation.

_Kanti_ had three children of her own, including the screaming toddler. Ali had seen what Uncas meant after watching her with her children and had to admit, _Kanti _was a good mom. She was strict and tended toward shouting, but Ali could tell she would put herself between a charging bull and any one of her children. _Kanti's_ other two kids were happily splashing Nate and Cora as they chased them around the lake.

"What's up then," Paul asked and took a drink of the beer he held, "you and Ade have a fight?"

"Why would you say that?" Ali demanded, her voice came out high and a shriller than she intended.

"_Uh_, maybe because you two are usually wrapped around each other like a second skin." he offered, shrugging his shoulders.

"Dad usually complains that he has to pry you two off of each other with a crow bar, but today you're sitting over here looking like your pet goldfish died. And Ade is over there making nice with our great aunt Beulah, something we all avoid!"

Paul gestured with his head and Ali turned around to see Uncas patiently enduring what looked like an ass reaming from a rotund, Indian woman. Ali tightened her jaw before slumping back into her chair. She glanced sullenly down at her knees. Paul watched her and waited for a response. After a few seconds of tense silence, Ali spoke.

"I was prepared to take the next production off." she mumbled, speaking more to the air than to Paul. When she didn't elaborate or continue, Paul cleared his throat and shifted in his seat as though uncomfortable.

"Okaaaaaaaay," the man drawled, "needing some context over here, Ali."

"The company is going on tour." Ali clarified flatly. Another few seconds of silence followed.

"If that's a good thing, why are you saying it like it's a _bad_ thing?" Paul asked, his voice laced with confusion. Ali sighed and slid down in the chair until her head was resting against the backing, then she rolled her head on her shoulders until she was looking at him again.

"It's a bad thing," she replied after taking a deep breath, "because I would be gone for over a year."

"Oh." Paul said quietly.

"Yeah." she murmured.

They took in the sounds of laughing children and chattering relatives for a while. Ali shut her eyes and let the sounds wash over her, trying to take comfort in the sound of normalcy. She didn't want to think about the tour anymore because it was the _only_ thing she had thought about for over a week. Auditions were coming up soon and she was going to have to make a decision one way or another.

"What did Ade say when you told him about it?" Paul asked her then.

That was the problem; he hadn't really said anything since telling her he needed time. After he disappeared into the bathroom, she had heard the shower come on and then he had silently walked into their room without saying a word to her. After she had gotten herself cleaned up, she found Uncas curled on his side, facing away from her. She had slid in bed next to him and stared at his back, trying to think of something to say.

"I love you." was all she had managed. He hadn't answered her. She didn't know if that was because he was asleep already or because he couldn't bring himself to reply. Either way she had spent a long time staring at the ceiling until sleep claimed her.

Since that night they had spoken to one another very formally. They said good morning, how are you, how was your day, but it was always tense, always overshadowed by the issue of the tour. After three days, Ali finally plucked up the courage to approach him.

_"We can't go on like this," she said to him when she caught him in the studio, "we can't keep skating around the issue."_

"_No, we can't." he agreed, his voice still careful and guarded. He was carving a piece of wood and didn't look up at her._

_"So, let's talk about it?" she prompted._

"_Have you decided what you want?" Uncas countered._

"_Well, no, but-"_

_ "You need to make a decision," he said, interrupting her before she finished the sentence, "you need to make a decision about what you want… or I do." This last was said so quietly that she might have missed it if she hadn't been looking at his mouth when he spoke._

_Ali had stood there for a long time while he continued to carve that block of wood and couldn't formulate a ready response. She opened her mouth several times, clenched and unclenched the hands at her sides. She swallowed and tried to find her suddenly elusive voice._

_"Are you going to break up with me?" she asked him, speaking calmly. She didn't feel calm, not at all, but she couldn't let that person screaming inside of her take control. If he said no, it meant he was at least willing to discuss this reasonably at some point, but if he said yes…she steeled her nerves and waited for him to answer._

_"I don't know." he responded, setting down his tool and finally raising his eyes to hers. There was a lot of raw emotion in them; he was hurting as much as she was and he was trying to keep it together, the struggle was written all over her face. _

_ "I don't want to but…you need to decide what you want, Ali. We can't move forward until you do."_

"He told me that I need to decide what I want. That was after I told him I didn't know what I wanted _more_." Ali revealed, opening her eyes again. They hadn't resolved anything with _that _discussion either. Uncas had taken up his carving tool again and she had retreated before she burst into tears.

"Well, what do you want more?" Paul asked her. Ali turned her head to look at him and gave a faint smile.

"What's this, your shrink routine?" she joked. Paul grinned at her and sat back in his chair like a psychiatrist, pretending to hold a tablet, the tablet in this case was his beer.

"I zink it all began wit yer father." Paul said in a poor imitation of Sigmund Freud. Ali laughed and sat up straighter in her chair. Paul cleared his throat before speaking again and when he did his voice was serious.

"You guys should find a way to talk about this, though. It's kind of a big deal."

"Emotionally invested in our future now?" she quipped. Paul's face remained serious and any amusement she felt, feigned or otherwise, slid away.

"Look Ali, I'm not the world's greatest guy, you know that… but I do know a good thing when I see it. What you and Ade have is at least worth considering if not fighting for. Not many people can say that."

"Thank you." she whispered, surprised to hear these words coming from him of all people. In the beginning he had been vocally opposed to their relationship and now he was encouraging her to fight for it. She wondered if the world really had turned upside down.

"What are you two talking so seriously about?" Cora's voice asked as she sauntered up, drying off her long curly hair with a towel.

"Nothing much. Just _Odette's_ looming stardom." Paul answered.

Ali shot him a warning look; she hadn't told her sister about the tour yet. She hadn't spoken to anyone about it aside from Uncas and now Paul.

"Looming stardom?" Cora repeated, blinking. She turned to her sister with a questioning look. "What is he talking about?"

"He's being dramatic." Ali answered vaguely, shooting Paul another glare around her sister. "There's no _looming_ anything."

Paul gave her his '_uh-huh, whatever_' look and took another swig of his beer before getting up to leave the two women alone. Once he was gone, Cora wrapped the towel around her waist and placed her hands on her hips. She looked down at Ali as though she were an errant child who was caught in a lie.

"Alright, spill!" Cora demanded, sounding exasperated. "I come home for a visit to find you and Uncas tiptoeing around one another. Now you're sitting over here sharing secrets with Paul? What is fuck's name is going on, Ali?"

"Cora, _language_!" Ali hissed, going red faced when she saw _Leotie_ shoot her a dirty look from over by one of the barbeque pits, as though it were Ali that said the offending word and not Cora.

"I'm going to keep dropping the F-bomb until you tell me what's going on with you." Cora threatened crossly.

Ali pulled her mouth into a thin line and stood up, taking her sisters elbow to lead her away from the staring relatives. She really didn't want to have this conversation at the reunion, but to protect her sister from embarrassing both of them she would have to.

"My Dance Company just announced that they're going on tour." Ali told her sister quietly when she got her over near the woods and away from nosey relatives.

"You're going on tour!" Cora repeated but louder, bellowing the news like a fog horn.

The distance had apparently not been far enough, Ali winced as she looked over her shoulder to see the Blackstone clan staring at them with wide, questioning eyes. Ali went red-faced; embarrassed that everyone was now privy to her business. She turned her face back to her sister's startled one.

"The _Company_ is going on tour" Ali corrected her quietly, her voice a small thread of sound in the sudden silence.

"Yes, a Company _you_ are part of." Cora reminded her, looking angry and hurt that her sister had told Paul about the tour but not her. "When were you going to tell me about this?"

"I don't know, Cora!" Ali burst out, angry herself now. "Maybe when I decided what the fuck I wanted to do."

It was so quiet that a pin could have fallen in the water and everyone would have heard it. Cora was surprised by her sisters sudden burst of anger and took a visible step back as Ali looked over her shoulder again at the staring faces.

"Could we go for a walk, please?" Ali requested miserably. "I don't want to talk about this here."

"Yeah, all right." Cora murmured and took her sisters arm to lead her away. They made their way down the hill that lead out to the main road. As they walked slowly down the gravel path, Ali's temperamental knee didn't allow her to move very fluidly so she limped next to Cora, who was waiting for her to explain herself.

Ali knew she would be the subject of discussion after that little outburst. It would probably be used against Uncas in some way too, which made her feel even worse. God, maybe she should just go on tour in the fall. Was staying worth how she was feeling now? Maybe it was a sign that their romance just wasn't meant to be.

She walked under the green canopy of leaves and her heart felt heavy in her chest, filled to the brim with tears that she had yet to shed. Uncas was barely speaking to her and they had barely touched one another aside from the brushing of fingers. She was beginning to wonder what she was fighting for.

"Uncas doesn't want you to go, does he?" Cora asked her quietly, after they had walked in silence for a while. Cora was always good at finding the heart of a matter, even when she was angry about not being made privy to it.

"I don't know." Ali answered sadly. "I assume he doesn't, but he said he can't talk to me about it until I decide what I want."

"That's not unfair, Ali." Cora replied gently.

"No, it isn't." she sighed. Then she told Cora everything, every last detail that she could recall about the announcement, that first conversation with Uncas and the second, and then about how it came up with Paul. Cora listened quietly until she was finished.

"I'm going to tell you what I think" Cora began tentatively, after she was certain Ali was done speaking, "and I don't think you're going to like what I have to say but I'm going to say it anyway. Just know I'm saying this because I love you, alright?"

"Ok." Ali replied hesitantly. She braced as though she were about to be struck.

"I think you should go for it." Cora stated firmly. Ali stopped walking to stare at her sister, who looked back at her with a serious expression. "You've trained for this since you were four, Ali. You can't give it all that up for the first guy who shows interest."

"He's hardly the first." Ali muttered, feeling slightly affronted. "Besides, shouldn't the fact that I love him count for something? I thought you liked Uncas."

"I do like him but that's beside the point." Cora said back and pinched the bridge of her nose as though she were fighting for patience. "Look Ali, this is a chance that might not be offered to you again. Are you really willing to give it all up for a guy that you've only been seeing for four months?"

I don't know…I just…I don't know!" she stammered, flustered and confused and suddenly just wanted to run. She wanted to go home and hide from the world.

"Well you need to make a decision." Cora snapped back at her, startling her with the harshness of her tone. "And frankly, if you do choose to stay, _I'm_ going to be disappointed in you! I gave up on my dream so that you could have yours so don't you _dare_ throw it away now!"

Ali stared at her sister for a few stunned seconds before the tears that she had been pushing down rose to her eyes like a tiny geyser. She gave a little sob and then began to weep. When she couldn't stop the tears, she buried her face in her hands.

"Oh, God… I'm sorry!" Cora's contrite voice said as her arms came around Ali and pulled her in tightly. "I'm a jerk, I shouldn't have said that! I'm sorry, Ali!" Ali wrapped her arms around her sister's waist and cried into her neck like a child.

"No, I'm sorry." Ali replied tremulously when she got control of herself again. "You're right, I didn't even think about that. All I've been thinking about is the fact that I want both." She disentangled herself from her sister's arms and wiped her eyes with the heel of her palm.

"I've been acting like an entitled child who wants to have her cake and eat it too. I need to choose, I can't have it both ways."

"For what it's worth, I think you should take your sister's advice." a deep male voice said from a little ways behind them. Cora and Ali jumped and spun around to see Magua standing a short distance up the path from them.

"I can't say much about the first part, whatever it is she gave up for you," Magua conceded, having the decency to look embarrassed for eavesdropping, "but I think you should go with your Dance Company."

"So you can finally be rid of me, you mean?" Ali retorted harshly. She knew she was being rude, but found that she didn't care. He had walked into a private conversation and given his two cents, completely unsolicited. She wasn't feeling patient at that moment or friendly. If Magua didn't like it, he could kiss her ass.

"Could I have a moment with my nephew's girlfriend, please?" Magua asked Cora, speaking politely and formally. Cora blinked at him in surprise before looking to Ali for permission. She knew that Magua didn't particularly care for the younger Munro girl and was subsequently loath to leave her alone with him.

"I just want to talk." this was said to Ali. Magua put his hands in the air in an 'I come in peace' gesture. Ali stared into his eyes, the eyes that were so much like Uncas' and was surprised to see that they held none of his customary disdain. He looked kind for once, sympathetic even. Ali found herself nodding and hoped she wasn't about to make a horrible mistake.

"You're sure?" Cora asked her skeptically. Ali nodded again, her eyes still locked on Magua's.

"I'll be just up the hill then." her sister muttered before walking away from them, she glanced over her shoulder several times, still unsure, before disappearing over the crest of the hill. Once she was out of sight, Ali and Magua stood facing each other in awkward silence. He cleared his throat and gestured with his head toward a large rock near the tree line.

"Let's sit down." he offered, indicating she should sit first. Ali plodded over to the raised stone and settled on to it. Magua sat down next to her with a quiet groan, as though he was arthritic and the movement hurt. Ali waited for him to speak because she had no idea what to say. His ever so civil request to speak to her had disarmed her and rendered her temporarily mute.

"I proposed to my wife here," Magua revealed and patted the space between them with his palm, "right here on this rock. It wasn't ideal; I didn't even have a ring yet. We were about your and Uncas' age."

Ali didn't know why he was telling her this; Magua had never been much for over sharing. Everything she knew about him, she had heard from Paul, Nate, or Uncas. Magua caught her gaze and smiled sadly, the saddest smile she had ever seen.

"Do you know why _Nootah_ left us?" Magua asked her then. Ali shook her head.

"She left because she regretted giving up her dream to marry me." The stern faced man explained. "She wanted to be an actress back then. Said she was going to run off to Hollywood, become the first 'Native American star'…but then we got pregnant with _Kanti_."

Magua paused in his narration to take a deep breath, his eyes far away and wistful, lost in a long ago dream. Uncas had told her that Magua didn't talk about his estranged wife very often and for years wouldn't even say her name. No one knew where she had ultimately ended up.

"Then one child became two, and then three and so on, until her dream became just that… a dream. After _Tahki_ was born she left us." Magua finished softly.

"I'm sorry." Ali said quietly. She meant it too. It was bad enough to have your spouse abandon you with little to no explanation, but worse yet when they left you on your own with five young children to raise. Ali wondered if _Nootah_ ever thought about her children or regretted leaving them.

"The point I'm trying to make by telling you all this is that you have a chance for something better than a poor life on this reservation. You _deserve_ better than a poor life on this reservation." he said, correcting halfway through and pinning her with a meaningful stare. Ali could only stare back at him, at a loss for words. Magua had never spoken to her this honestly, or even kindly, the entire time she had known him.

"Look, I know you probably think I'm saying all this just to get rid of you, and several months ago you might have been right," Magua admitted when he saw the skepticism in her eyes, "God knows, I wasn't thrilled about you being here." Ali tilted her head slightly, trying to hear any pretense in his voice. So far she had heard only honesty and sadness.

"So what changed?" she asked curiously.

"I saw you dance."

So that _had_ been Magua she saw ducking out of the theatre that night. Again, Ali was stunned, why had he gone to see her dance? He didn't strike her as the theatre going type.

"I didn't understand a damn thing that was going on in that ballet." Magua admitted with a nervous chuckle. "I haven't even watched the Disney version since _Tahki_ was a little girl, but there was something about the way _you_ danced in it. I might not have understood what was going on but you made me feel the emotion of it. None of the other dancers did that."

"You came to my ballet?" she repeated stupidly. She had heard everything he just said about how she made him feel the emotion of the piece, but her brain was still stuck on the fact that he had come to her ballet at all. Magua laughed at her baffled expression and nodded.

"I wanted to see what you were made of, what Uncas saw in you."

"And what did you learn?" she asked tersely, starting to bristle at the implication that he thought she wasn't good enough for his nephew. Then she felt guilty because he was coming to her with good will, she could at least return the favor.

"Well, for one, I learned that you're a hell of a dancer but more importantly I figured out the effect you have on the people around you. My son, Uncas and Nate, even Sinopa…you make them feel safe to be who they _want_ to be." Magua answered. "I think you also make them feel hopeful and hope is something this place tends to kill. It's that hope, that fairytale like whimsy, which draws all of them to you."

"Well, I don't think my 'whimsy', as you call it, is doing me any favors these days." Ali mumbled, feeling a bit embarrassed by his perception of her. "Uncas will barely speak to me about the tour and I think he's a hairsbreadth away from ending our relationship entirely."

"Yeah well, my nephew is simply _afraid_ to leave the reservation," Magua replied with a dry laugh, "and I have to admit that my generation hasn't helped much in that regard. I certainly haven't encouraged it, not with Uncas or with my own children."

"Afraid?" Ali repeated. "Of what?"

"Any number of things; maybe he's afraid he can never come back if he seeks out something bigger or afraid of disappointing his tribe by leaving. Maybe he's afraid of getting lost in the big wide world of the white man and losing _himself_. Either way it's still fear based. The difference now is you."

"I think you're overestimating my influence." she mumbled, casting her eyes down to her sandaled feet.

"If you go," the older man said slowly, " I think my nephew will follow you."

Ali started and looked back at him in bewilderment. Go with her? She hadn't considered that possibility at all, especially after the night of their argument, when she had casually brought it up and he had told her that the reservation was all he knew.

"He said he has a good life here, that it's all he knows," Ali argued, shaking her head, "I doubt that he would be willing to leave and tour the country with me, especially if he's as afraid as you've just said."

"He loves you and that makes a difference," Magua said with a shrug, "tell him you're going and I think he'll follow you anywhere."

"What if he doesn't?" Ali countered, unwilling to let hope in just yet. Magua gave her another sad smile and patted her knee with his rough hand.

"Then he's just another poor fool who's too scared or too proud to take a chance." The police chief answered firmly.

They sat in silence after that, Ali considering everything that Mauga had said to her and Magua lost in his own private thoughts. When enough time had passed, Magua groaned his way back to his feet and rotated his shoulders, working out the kinks.

"I better get back before my daughters launch a search party. Do you want to walk back with me or do you need more time?" Magua asked.

"I think I'll sit here for a while, you've given me some things to consider and I don't know if I'm ready to go back to be scrutinized by _Kanti_ just yet_._" she smiled when she said this last. Surprisingly, Magua returned it.

"My oldest bases a lot of her opinions on what she thinks mine are. I'll speak to her about how she's been treating you and…I'm sorry. I'm an old fool with old ideas, another one who's too proud and scared to face change. You're good for my nephew; you bring him out of his shell. I've just been too stubborn to give you credit for it."

He walked away from her before she could respond, probably embarrassed by all the honesty and oversharing. Ali watched his back as he made his way up the small hill and felt respect for the man that she hadn't realized she was lacking until now. She had been intimidated by him, leery of him certainly, but she finally understood that she hadn't _known_ him well enough to respect him.

Everything he had said to her in the last ten minutes showed a man who was more perceptive than anyone gave him credit for and Ali thought that she could like Magua, given more time to get to know him. He had certainly given her a lot to consider, as had Cora and Paul.

Was it possible that Uncas would come with her if she left? It wasn't unheard of, spouses and significant others followed dancers all the time. Ali hadn't considered that possibility until Magua suggested it and now wondered how to broach the subject with Uncas. Could she even bring herself to ask him to come with her?

Magua thought he would follow her if she went, but simply going without speaking to him about it felt too close to manipulation for comfort. It felt like something Cassie would do, simply state she was leaving without considering the other side. Ali didn't think she could do it like that. She sat on that rock for longer than she knew was polite. She needed to get back before they sent a search party for her instead.

She slid of the rock, dusted off her rump and made her way back up the hill toward the lake. She was just cresting the top off the hill when she saw her sister leaning against a tree, studying her hands. Cora looked up at the sound of her sister's uneven foot falls and stood up straighter.

"How did it go?" she asked worriedly.

"It went fine, he was very fair." Ali replied, stopping next to Cora.

"I was going to come running if I heard yelling. I didn't like leaving you on your own with him."

"He gave me a lot to think about." Ali told her quietly.

"Well, I still feel bad for what I said." Cora sighed as she took Ali's arm and pulled her back toward the sounds of the reunion. "I was angry and hurt and I didn't even mean it. I was just shocked that you were thinking about throwing it all away."

"You had a right to say everything you said," Ali told her reassuringly, "and I agree that it would be silly to give everything up like that."

"So you're set on going then?"

"Mostly, first I need to discuss some things with Uncas. I can't say how I'll feel after that, but as it stands at this moment, yes."

Ali just hoped this was going to be a decision she could live with in the long run, especially if Uncas chose not to come with her. She let her sister lead her back to the lake with a heart that was close to breaking but also resigned to the coming pain. She forced a smile onto her face and prepared to jump back into the fray.

**(Authors notes:**

** Ugh! You guys have no idea how many times I rewrote this dialogue. The very first write through, I had Uncas basically stomping away and acting like a jerk and then I had Ali yelling at her sister in front of everyone and stomping off. Everyone (except Paul and Magua) was being needlessly antagonistic.**

** Then the second write through had me dumbing down Uncas behavior during that remembered discussion with Alice. I changed the dialogue so that what Ali said was honest and not meant to be cruel…but still hurt anyway. Then I had to rewrite that second encounter in his studio, which took **_**forever**_** to get right. Then there was the conversation with Magua! So…much…talking! XD**

** I actually didn't intend for that talk with Magua to happen until closer to the end of part 2. It just felt better here. I still haven't decided if I'm going to have him talk to Uncas as well. If he does, it will be a very different type of discussion (not nearly as involved). Putting the conversation here opens me up for some other scenes and helps me close out part two a little quicker than I thought I would. Now I can focus on getting Uncas and Ali back to being happy for a while.**

** I had intended to have this up on Tuesday but the rewrites plus doctor appointments (I developed asthma while writing this story. Ironic, I know!) really pushed me back. I don't know when the next update will be either because I need to think about Uncas side in all this. He kept saying to her that she needed to' make a decision' but I think what he means is that **_**he**_** needs to make a decision. I'll get into that more in the next chapter.**

** God, if this chapter (and the last one too, I suppose) had a theme it would be 'Mockingbird' by Rob Thomas. I heard it on one of my other playlists yesterday and chuckled a little. The line 'Maybe we ain't meant for this love' really sums up how the characters are feeling right now.**

**Again, thank you all for reading and bearing with me as I rewrite the hell out of this thing. Thanks for all the previous reviews as well, I do read them but don't always get a chance to respond. I will see you all at the next update!)**


	27. Chapter 27

**(Warning: brief sexual content ahead)**

"I don't know, Cora!" Ali's angry voice snapped, cutting through Aunt Beulah's disjointed rant. The old woman halted mid-tirade to blink over Uncas shoulder at the sisters, Uncas turned around in time to see a stunned expression sweeping over Cora's face.

"Maybe when I decided what the fuck I _wanted_ to do!" the younger Munro girl finished, flourishing with her hands in frustration.

Total silence followed these words, no one said anything. Even his cousin, _Leotie_, who always had something to say about everything, could only stare with her mouth hanging open. Uncas watched Ali glance around, her face flushing in embarrassment as she realized that everyone's attention was now riveted on her. Her eyes skipped over him as she turned her gaze guiltily back to her sister.

"Could we go for a walk, please? Ali requested, speaking quietly now that everyone was listening. "I don't want to talk about this here."

Cora's response was too quiet for Uncas to make out but she must have mumbled an agreement because the next thing she did was take her sisters arm and lead her away. They walked toward the small hill and began to make their way down. Uncas watched Ali's moonlike hair as it disappeared from sight. He was weighing the pros and cons of following them when his aunt began to speak again.

"That right there_ proves_ my point," she declared haughtily, pointing in the direction the girls had disappeared, "No good comes from taking up with _their _kind_!_"

Uncas took a deep breath and tried to command his patience. Mean spirited though she might be, Aunt Beulah was an elder and he had to do her the courtesy of at least _pretending_ to listen to her council. Even if that council came from an old woman in the beginning stages of dementia who kept calling him 'Arthur'.

"Now you, Arthur, you did this family proud! Your Leona was a fine catch, made the best Fry Bread this side of the reservation."

Arthur had been his father's legal name and one that Uncas rarely heard anymore. Aunt Beulah had been very fond of Uncas' dad, she had taken he and Magua in for a while when their parents had fallen on hard times. When Uncas was a child, she had been very affectionate with him as well, but the onset of dementia had left her confused and it was rare that she actually knew who she was speaking to. Today, she had somehow managed to remember that 'Arthur's' son had taken up with a white girl and had been angrily taking him to task about it.

"Speaking of Fry Bread," Paul's voice interjected from behind Uncas, "_Samoset's_ wife just put some out. It won't top Ade's moms but it'll still be pretty good."

Aunt Beulah's angry expression melted into an anticipatory one as she instantly forgot what she had been talking about. Fry Bread was a flattened, deep fried, bread made from leavened yeast that was served at any large gathering. There wasn't an Indian he had met that didn't love the stuff and his Aunt Beulah was no exception. Chingachgook had loved it too, until Uncas mom had died. He didn't remember his dad touching Fry Bread again after she was gone.

_It just doesn't taste the same_, his father's distant voice whispered at the back of his memory. He couldn't even remember how his dad had sounded now. He remembered that his dad's voice had been deep, much like his own, but he couldn't remember the timber of it anymore. His mom's face was gone from his memory along with his dad's voice; Uncas felt a sudden rush of homesickness for his parent's right then.

Oblivious to this, Aunt Beulah sidled around Uncas and Paul; she made a bee line for the nearest picnic table. She shouted 'Yoo-hoo, _Amitola_!' at a middle aged woman who was balancing a baby on her hip and Uncas let out the deep breath he had been holding.

"Oh my god, thank you!" he puffed out when she was out of earshot, relieved to finally be free from the thoroughly racist ass-reaming.

"Yeah, well, you looked like you could use the help. Aunt Beulah think you were your dad again?" Paul asked, giving him a sympathetic smile.

"Yeeeeep!" Uncas drawled, glancing over the other man's shoulder to see _Amitola_ trying to patiently endure a conversation with Beulah, who was piling Fry Bread onto a paper plate. Uncas felt bad for pawning the old woman off on her but not enough to go over and do anything about it.

"It was weird being harangued about myself."

"Just be glad she didn't mistake you for Uncle Clarence! Remember what happened to my brother at the last reunion? He's still traumatized."

Both men shared a laugh at the memory of that event. Clarence had been Beulah's husband back in the early 50's. He had died before either Uncas or Paul had been born, so they had never met him. From what they had been told, Clarence had been a tall man who liked to laugh and smoke Cuban Cigars; a pastime that ultimately killed him.

Paul's only brother, _Samoset_ , had been cornered by Beulah at Magua's house the year before. She had planted a rather passionate kiss on him before Magua and Paul managed to pry her off. As Paul said, _Samoset_ hadn't been the same around the old woman since. Paul's face suddenly grew solemn and he looked around to see if any other relatives were nearby before leaning in to speak.

"Ali told me about the tour thing, dude. How are you holding up with that?" he asked this with genuine concern, which was a little surprising.

Oh god, the tour! The tour had been the white elephant in the room since Ali told him about it and he had to admit that he wasn't handling the situation very well. When she initially announced it, he didn't yet appreciate the enormity of it. Once his brain began to catch up, he had become a ball of tightly contained dread. He had held up alright until she said the following words:

_I don't know what I want more!_

Uncas knew that her words had been nothing if not honest. They were the words of someone who had just been faced with a life altering choice. They were the words of someone who was feeling just as blindsided and panicked as he was. He knew all of this and yet those words had cut him to the core and had translated in his brain as:

_I don't know if I want you!_

He ended up walking away from that first conversation, an act he knew would hurt her as much as her words had hurt him. He just couldn't _talk_ to her in the moment, not reasonably_, _and he hadn't wanted to say something that they would both regret.

"I'm….not holding up so good," Uncas revealed quietly, tightening his jaw at the memory of how tense the past week had been, "not as well as I'd like to be anyway."

"Do you know what you want in all this?" Paul asked him.

"Honestly? No, not really." Uncas sighed and dug his hands into the pockets of his jeans, looking down at the toes of his boots as though there was an answer waiting there. He had spent the last week trying to decide what to do but he still didn't have a ready solution. Uncas had told Ali that _she_ needed to make a decision that day in his studio but, if he was truthful with himself, it was really _he_ who needed to make one.

_Are you going to break up with me?_ Ali's sweet, forcibly calm voice whispered in his memory.

He could still see her standing there with her wide pleading eyes as he sat rooted to his chair, trying not to scream at her. He didn't want to break up with her, he had told her as much, but he was hitting a point where he wasn't seeing another option. It wasn't fair to ask her to stay on the reservation and give up what she had worked for her entire life. The problem was that he couldn't find the strength to let her go. It was as though he were incapable of saying the words.

"I can't ask her to stay here, to give all that up. The tour could make her career." Uncas told Paul, still looking at his boots. "It's not fair to ask her to do that."

"Well, do you _have_ to give her up?" Paul countered. Uncas looked back up at his cousin and found the man staring back at him with meaningful eyes.

"_Uh_, she'd be gone for over a year Paul," he responded, raising an eyebrow, "and long distance relationships rarely work out."

"No, dude, you're missing my point here." Paul rubbed his forehead with two fingers. "What I'm trying to say is…why don't you just go on tour with her?"

Uncas blinked at Paul for a few long moments and couldn't speak. Paul stared back at him steadily, waiting for a response and when Uncas didn't give one, Paul's face turned incredulous.

"Don't tell me that you've spent a week sitting on this and haven't even considered it?"

"I…" Uncas couldn't form a response to the question because the truth was that he really _hadn't _considered it. He had tried to find the strength to let her go, or the strength to beg her to stay but no, he hadn't considered going with her. He suddenly felt incredibly stupid and more than a little selfish.

"Jesus, Ade!" Paul exclaimed as though he had read Uncas thoughts. "That girl's been beating herself up over this, trying to consider _you_ and _your_ life and you can't even give her the same consideration?"

"Hey!" Uncas snapped back, feeling indignant even though everything Paul was accusing him of had merit. "What makes you think you're an expert on anything? As I recall you weren't exactly doing cartwheels over our relationship. What do you care if it ends now?"

"I care because I would kill for what you have, you asshole!" Paul retorted angrily. Uncas started and gaped at Paul, surprised. He pierced Uncas with angry eyes and continued his tirade.

"I used to want to _be_ you, man! I used to hope my dad would talk about me the way yours used to talk about you; Adrian, with the good job, Adrian doesn't drink or smoke. Adrian, who doesn't fuck up everything he touches!"

Uncas was stunned, this was the first time he had ever heard any of this. His father had never been critical of him when he was alive, but he had never been overly showy with his praise either. More surprising still was Paul's revelation that he had wanted to _be_ _him_? Until recently, they hadn't even gotten along. Uncas had spent most of his life thinking Paul didn't like him, preferring Nate's company instead. Now he was telling him he secretly _looked up_ to him? Uncas stared back at his cousin's angry features, features that were so much like his own, and didn't know what to say to him.

"Just consider the possibility of going with her." Paul sighed as his anger petered out, coming back to the original point of discussion in Uncas silence. He was still annoyed but he spoke with less harshness now.

"Otherwise, you run the risk of ending up like me; carrying a torch for the one that got away."

Dawning realization washed over Uncas as Paul's eyes skipped away and darted to where Cora and Ali were reappearing at the top of the hill. Paul watched Cora walk over to Nate, who took her hand in concern and then put an arm around her shoulder, whispering something in her ear that made her laugh. Paul watched them and looked so defeated that Uncas wondered how he had missed the pain Paul must have been in. He was watching the girl he loved move on with his favorite cousin. It was bad enough that he had lost her by virtue of his own mistakes but worse yet that he had to see her be happy with someone else. Uncas felt a rush of sympathy for the poor bastard.

"Paul-" he didn't get to finish the sentence when his cousin's harsh gaze swung back to him. Any remaining words dried up on his tongue.

"No," Paul said in a warning tone, "You don't get to start pitying me. What you need to do is talk to your girl and work this out in whatever way you see fit. If you start pitying me, Adrian Blackstone, I will break this bottle on your face."

Paul rubbed the back of his neck nervously, acting like he wanted to say something more but then her shut his mouth and walked away. Uncas let him go, knowing that, after a revelation like that, he would want to be alone. Paul left Uncas standing there with more to think about than he had before and a lot more to consider.

He glanced over to where Ali stood, looking out silently at the lake, just as she had been earlier. She looked different to him somehow; there was a stillness in her features that hadn't been there before, a kind of silent resignation. Whatever had been said on her walk with Cora had changed something for her and he watched her, wondering if he had lost her for good.

Uncas knew he should talk to her, extend some kind of olive branch and end the tension _he_ had imposed on both of them, but it felt wrong to talk about something like this at the reunion. Still, he felt like he should say something to her, something to show that he was ready to end this standoff.

He approached her slowly, trying to plan out what he wanted to say. Ali looked up when he stepped on a twig and locked eyes with him, waiting, as though she knew what he was ready to talk to her now. As if she knew what he was going to say, even if he didn't know himself.

"Everything alright?" he asked her awkwardly. It was the first thing that popped into his head.

"Do you really need me to answer that?" she replied. Despite her words, there was no anger in her voice, no sarcasm. She asked it as though she were commenting on the weather or stating a fact.

"I guess not," he sighed, "look, Ali, I know I said that you needed to make a decision about all this but I think it was really me that needed to make one."

"Have you?" she whispered. He knew that she only looked calm right now; that inside, she was crying and he wished that he could hold that crying girl and reassure her.

"Maybe…I just… I want to try to talk about it again," he fumbled to explain, tripping over his own words. "I know we can't really talk here but maybe when we get home we can try again?"

"I think that would be…good." she replied, pausing before saying the last word. It seemed to be the only word she could come up with and having said it, she looked down at her feet.

"Ali, I-" she cut him off by shaking her head.

"If you say anything else I might start crying." Ali told him firmly. "We'll talk at home."

He closed his mouth and gave a brief nod. She cleared her throat and stepped around him, walking toward a picnic table to get some food. They didn't speak the rest of the time they spent at the lake and when it was time to go, he indicated with his head toward the truck. Ali nodded and walked over to it without saying a word to him.

The drive back to the cabin was an awkward one. Cora and Nate tried to start up some idle banter, but when that failed, they sat in silence, holding hands. Ali looked out the window at the dark landscape and Uncas just held the steering wheel, moving the car as though on autopilot. When they pulled up to the house and Ali and Uncas had gotten out of the car, Nate rolled down his window and held out his hand.

"Give me the keys?" he commanded flatly.

"Huh?" Uncas was confused. "Why?"

"Cora and I are going to leave you two alone so you can work whatever this is out." Nate replied simply. "You can call us when the 'Cold War' is over."

Uncas stared back at his brother for a moment and then mutely dropped the keys in his hand. Nate smiled at him encouragingly as he scooted over into the driver's seat and Cora climbed into the seat he had vacated. Ali was already making her way up the steps to the cabin when Cora spoke to him.

"Be gentle with her, whatever it is you say?" Cora begged him. "She loves you deeply. If you're going to end it just…do it kindly."

Nate drove away before Uncas could argue with her or tell her he didn't intend to end anything yet. Uncas stared after the truck until it was lost from sight, feeling both grateful to his brother for vacating and resentful that he had no way of leaving if things went south. When he turned around, Ali had already gone inside. He slowly climbed the steps on the porch and opened the door to find her standing by the sofa, waiting for him. Her eyes were patient, expectant, and sad.

Uncas had intended to say something to get the conversation rolling after he had shut the door. He had intended to apologize for shutting her out the entire week, to tell her he was an ass. What he had not intended to do was walk across the room in three long strides, cup her face in his hands, and kiss her.

One minute he was standing by the door, preparing to end what Nate called their 'Cold War,' and the next he had his mouth over hers, kissing her passionately. He didn't expect her mouth to open for him or for her arms to wrap around his neck. He didn't expect to back her halfway down the hall like that or to lift her off her feet and carry her until they fell onto the bed in a panting heap.

They didn't even undress. His hands tugged her panties down her legs while hers fumbled blindly with his belt. He threw the underwear aside as she pulled him out of his pants and then he was inside her. They made love like two people who wanted to drown in one another, with the kind of hurried intensity that was only seen in those who had been separated for months or years.

The act of love making, an act that neither had intended upon entering the cabin, served to reconnect something that had been severed. They clung to one another, gasping and panting as they met thrust for thrust and when they climaxed, their mouths collided in a kiss that sealed everything back together.

Ali sagged underneath him and he collapsed on top of her, groaning out the last of his release while her inner muscles constricted around him. He had his face buried in her hair as he breathed the faint smell of coconut and lavender in and out of his nose. He could feel her heart hammering in her chest as she sucked in air and then she went very still.

"That wasn't..what I...intended when I said…I wanted to talk." he panted, still trying to catch his breath.

He felt Ali's shoulders begin to shudder and pushed up onto his elbows to see large tears sliding down her face. Stricken, he quickly pulled out of her and rolled off so that he could gather her in against him.

"I thought it was over," she whispered against his neck, "that you were going to end it."

"I'm sorry, Baby." he whispered back, shushing her. "I'm sorry that I couldn't deal with it until now."

"I don't want to leave you," she sobbed, "I'm sorry I said it like that, it wasn't what I meant!" Uncas pulled her in tighter.

"I know that and I don't want you to leave either," he responded, "but I can't ask you to give this up."

"What are we going to do?" Ali asked, raising her tear stained face to stare into his. Her eyes were pleading with him to find a way, some way to make this all work. He looked back into her blue eyes and heard Paul's words ringing in his ears.

_ Just go on tour with her_

He brushed the hair out of her anxious face and cupped her cheeks with his palms, wiping away the stray tears with his thumb. Looking at her like that, he made a sudden, potentially irrational, decision.

"Well," he began slowly, "I was thinking that maybe, if your company will let me…that I could go with you."

Ali's featured shifted from desperate to something else entirely. She blinked down at him, sitting up on her knees to stare at him. Her expression shifted from anxious to guarded and unreadable. When she spoke, her voice was flat.

"You talked to Magua."

Uncas furrowed his brow, sitting up as well. They faced each other like that on the bed, her on her knees; he sitting straight legged with his back against the headboard.

"What does _Aahsa_ have to do with this?" he asked her, confused.

"You didn't," she said with dawning realization. She tilted her head to the side, regarding him with awed surprise, "You just….decided you want to go with me?"

"I realized that this, whatever it is we have here, shouldn't be cast aside without a good fight. I love you Alice Munro and I want to be with you, wherever that has to be."

She collided with him so hard when she threw herself into his arms that it threw him off balance. Uncas barely had time to wrap his arms around her as she knocked them both off the bed.

"That a yes, then?" he gasped after his back collided with the floor. Her answer was a very passionate kiss.

**Authors note:**

**(I don't think I have a lot to say about this chapter other than that I didn't expect to get it uploaded this week. I didn't even start writing it until Monday because I was sick over the weekend. I resolved this a little quicker than I intended to but a lot of that was based around not wanting to spew out several more 'They aren't speaking' chapters. I've got him set on going with her now so really it's just a matter of cleaning some things up before the end of part two.**

**Some things have changed for me in terms of how certain parts of the plot are going to progress. The mini sex scene here was supposed to happen near the end of chapter two, but I just couldn't make Ali and Uncas talk about the whole thing, no matter how hard I tried. **

**This was true in the last chapter as well, when I tried to make them talk it out. (Though that one ended up derailing into really uncomfortable/weird sex that changed their entire relationship; obviously I scraped that scene.)**

**I even tried to make them talk about it when he first walked through the door, after Nate and Cora left, but they just ended up getting it on anyway. So I was like 'Fine, whatever you two just…do your thing' and what do you know, they worked it out! :p**

**I'm not sure how many more chapters there will be between this one and the end of part two. I want to write at least one chapter with Uncas talking to some of the guys at the fire station about this and one where Ali talks to Andi about stuff. Some people have asked if Paul will find love and all I will say is that I have a plan for Paul that I'm trying to implement but at the moment I'm not sure how to work it in. So we'll see. **

**Anyway, that's about all that I have to say about this chapter. I hope you enjoyed it annnnnnnnnnd I will you all next time!)**

**Songs that made me think of this chapter:**

**Stay-by Gabielle (I think I might have mentioned this one in either 'Rabbit' or 'Coming back to you', right now it just makes me think of Uncas mindset about everything; the whole trying to decide what to do mentality. **

**I'll set you free-The Bangles (This would be Ali's version of the above one. Especially since she was certain he was going to break up with her and was trying to be calm and mature about it. Nice sappy 80's song XD)**


	28. Chapter 28

**(Warning: very brief sexual content ahead)**

**(Disclaimer: I do not own 'Steel Magnolia's or 'Skin', they belong to their respective owners. I make no money from this so please don't sue me!)**

_ "Here we go"_, Ali thought to herself as she carried her duffel bag down the backstairs of the auditorium, heading for the prep area, "_point of no return"_. Ok, that was overly dramatic! She could still back out right up until the day they left, but for Ali, it felt like the point of no return. Once she went onto that stage she was committed to see it through until the end.

Auditions for the 'The Nutcracker' were taking place today, with the ones for 'Cinderella' scheduled for next week. The members of company that were mingling in the hallway were practically buzzing with excitement as she passed them by. People strolled or talked amongst themselves while they pulled on toe-gards or laced up their pointe shoes. There were even a few doing some practice Pliés while they waited to be called to the stage.

Ali walked past all of them, in search of a secluded spot where she could begin warming up. She ended up in the green room which, strangely, no one else had commandeered yet. Setting down her bag in a corner, she pulled out a hair tie and piled her hair onto her head in a makeshift bun. When she was satisfied with its tightness, she walked to the middle of the room to begin stretching.

Settling on the floor, Ali pulled her knees up to her chest and then pushed her knees outward and away from her, pressing her feet together, sole to sole. She was just finding the correct position for her back when a voice spoke from the doorway.

"You decided to audition after all, huh?" Andi's soft voice queried. Ali started and glanced up to see her friend standing in the door way with her own duffle bag slung over one shoulder. Ali smiled and patted the floor next to her.

"Yeah and my doctor was none too thrilled about it." Ali replied as Andi walked in and set her bag next to Ali's. She too pulled her curly, dark hair onto her head before walking over to settle where Ali had indicated.

"Did you change your mind about auditioning for Clara?" Andi asked her quietly.

She didn't ask Ali this with any hint of anger or annoyance, more she asked it sadly, as though she were seeing her chance flit away on the wind. She asked it as though she already knew the answer and was merely waiting for Ali to confirm it.

Ali blinked over at Andi, stretching in what was commonly referred to as the 'butterfly position', and was preparing to pull her feet towards her so she could stretch out her inner leg muscles. Ali straightened her spine and fixed her shoulders before giving her friend a puzzled expression.

"No, I already told you that I'm not going out for a lead on this one," Ali responded as she pulled her feet in towards her, forcing her knees into the wing shape the position it derived its name from. "I wouldn't go behind your back like that."

Andi let out a relieved sigh, shook herself, finally she gave Ali an apologetic smile.

"Sorry, dude" she murmured before grimacing at the pull of her inner leg muscles as she moved her legs to the sides, "That came out overly bitchy, didn't it?"

Ali didn't say anything but she _did_ wonder where all this was coming from. Andi wasn't suspicious by nature, so the fact that she thought Ali might go behind her back and audition for the role baffling. When Ali decided she had warmed up her inner thigh muscles enough, she moved onto loosening her hip joints.

She lay back and propped herself up on her elbows, extending her legs out in front of her. Slowly she pulled one knee up then extended it to her left and brought it back around again. She did this until thta leg began to feel warm and then began to rotate it in the opposite direction. By the time she was moving on to doing this with her other leg, Andi had finished with the 'Butterfly position' and was moving to mirror her with this new exercise.

"Did you really think I would go behind your back like that?" Ali asked, grunting as her knee gave a painful complaint at being held in the same position for so long.

"No, not really," Andi responded, groaning herself as she brought her leg around again, "It was just something Cassie was bitching about upstairs. In my defense, we both know that Julia and David _would_ give you the lead if you auditioned. I'm sorry, Ali; I just really want this part. I didn't mean to accuse you of anything."

"Oh, Andi," Ali sighed as she finished with her first leg rotation, "I know Julia and David act like they have this 'blonde ideal' for their productions, but they're not going to put me in leads forever. There are other people in this company."

"Yeah...maybe," her friend murmured, as though she were skeptical of this fact and then shook her head. "Let's talk about something else now, ok? _Liiiiiiiike_… how are things are going with that Indian of yours? Got any fun stories for me?"

Ali couldn't help but smile at this question. The funny part was if Andi had asked her that question two weeks ago, she probably would have burst into tears. Fortunately for both of them, after the impromptu sexual encounter the afternoon following the reunion, things were great. More than great actually; they were fucking fantastic! Once Uncas made the decision to join her on the tour, they had gone back to the way things used to be and were even making small plans for what he could do while she danced.

"I'm going to assume, by that shit eating grin of yours, that things are _very_ good right now." Andi commented with a sly smile.

"They might be." Ali answered cagily, lowering her eyes and blushing.

"Are we talking 'crazy sex' kind of good or just the regular kind?" Andi prodded with a teasing grin. Ali picked up her towel and threw it at her friend in mock anger.

"Do you think about anything but sex?" she scoffed with an exaggerated role of the eyes. Andi caught the towel effortlessly and draped it over her shoulders.

"Hey, I have to live vicariously through someone! Still single, remember?" The other girl responded by way of defending herself. She leaned forward in anticipation of whatever Ali had to tell her.

"So spill; are we talking shower sex, kitchen, on the hood of his truck….what?"

Ali shook her head but grinned and blushed despite herself.

"_Uh_, well, those first two happened this morning and then in his studio before I left," she admitted quietly, "There's too many people that drive through his section of the reservation for us to have sex on the hood of his truck."

"Hey, it wouldn't have stopped me!" Andi crowed, making Ali laugh loudly.

"A _tornado_ didn't stop you." Ali countered, remembering the story Andi had told her about the time she had been engaged in a romp with one of her Ex's and the weather siren had suddenly dropped. She said they had stopped long enough to say 'it's probably just a test' before shrugging and continuing. It was only later that Andi would learn about the minor tornado that had blown through a block or so from her house. It was still her favorite sex story to date.

"And it was worth every second!" Andi declared with a smile.

They both had a good laugh as they finished up their hip stretches. When they were done with that, they moved on to splits and soon enough it was time to head up to the stage. Climbing to their feet, they walked over to their duffle bags and dug around for their pointe shoes. With shoes in hand, they made their way up the stairs to backstage and settled into a vacant corner. Cassie was just gliding out onto the stage to the music of the 'Arabian Dance' as they settled and began taping up their toes.

"So what was Cassie saying about me?" Ali asked, not really wanting to know but feeling curious at the same time.

"_Meh_, nothing really, commenting on you always getting solo's and that you would probably get the lead today, just the regular Cassie melodrama," Andi scowled, looking over at the taller girl who was spinning around the three men acting as props for the scene, "I shouldn't have paid attention to her."

Ali scowled Cassie's way as well, but not so much because the redhead had been talking about her. It was more because of how things had ended things with Sinopa. Much like she and Uncas, they had had a discussion about the tour. Unlike Ali and Uncas, however, Cassie had told Sinopa she was going with or without her. There was no discussion about it; no compromise and no thought to Sinopa's career either. Cassie had given her an ultimatum and the relationship had ended, just like that. Ali and Uncas had spent a good portion of an evening consoling Sinopa with ice cream and old musicals. She suspected that Uncas would be perfectly happy never to sit through 'Brigadoon' again.

"Hey, is Morgan auditioning for one of the guy's part in this scene?" Ali asked when she caught sight of the finely muscled Kenyan who was waiting for Cassie near the end of the stage.

"_Naw_, he's just acting as a prop for her audition. As far as I know, he's auditioning for the Nutcracker Prince." Andi said back.

"Really," she exclaimed, impressed, "bold move; especially if you consider that he's going up against Gage."

It was common knowledge in their company that Gage almost always got the lead male part, just as Tyler almost always get the part of the villain. It was partially because of their looks (blonde hiar and blue eyes for Gage) and partially what they brought to the productions (Flamboyant acting for Tyler). It also had to do with the fact that when Julia and David found their leads they tended to stick with them; another reason Andi took Cassie's bitching seriously. Morgan would have to bring something new to the table if he hoped to beat out Gage for the Nutcracker, Ali was curious to see what that would be.

"It would be interesting to have a different Nutcracker Prince for once, I think." Ali said as she watched Morgan twirl Cassie around the stage. "It's not something they do very often."

"Yeah, like a dark haired 'Clara'." Andi replied as she pulled her toe-gards on and slid her foot through the ankle strap. Once the shoe was on, she tested the tightness of the strap with a gentle pull and snap.

"Oh, stop! You'll do fine." Ali scolded her. Then she realized she had no idea who else was auditioning for 'Clara'. "Who are you up against anyway?"

"_Uhhhhhhh_," her friend drawled, thinking as she pulled her straps up to make sure they were even, before crisscrossing them and wrapping them around her ankle, "I think Collete and Nicole, maybe?"

"Well, you have nothing to worry about then," Ali reassured her as she watched her knot the remaining strap in place, "Collete isn't ready to leave the _corps_ yet and Nicole thinks she should be given the leads because her father is rich. If that's who you're up against then I don't think you have anything to worry about."

The girls turned their attention back to the stage as Cassie was nearing the end of her audition. The music for the 'Arabian Dance' was Ali's favorite but it was, admittedly, the most boring one to dance. It was slow paced, usually given a slightly erotic flair to make it more interesting, but ultimately limited in terms of what you could do with it. Ali thought that Cassie had chosen well for her audition, however, because the 'Arabian Dance' required very little from her as a ballerina. It would also showcase the long lines of her dancers body; something which Cassie appreciated the most.

When Cassie left the stage, Andi's name was called. She hopped onto her feet and whispered a quick 'wish me luck' to Ali, before walking out onto the stage. Once the music began to play, Andi stepped out. She looked around her as though she were seeing something truly amazing instead of an empty auditorium; looking here and there for the elusive Nutcracker Prince. Waiting for her was Morgan who had asked if he could combine his audition with hers before she went out. Apparently, Julia and David had a time constraint and needed the auditions to move along more quickly.

Ali watched Andi take Morgan's hand with a look of wonderment as he twirled her, giving the illusion that they were dancing on a cloud. Andi danced fluidly, elegantly, and Ali thought that they looked very good together. They moved as though they were mirroring each other and she thought that Julia and David would be fools to overlook either one based on aesthetics.

As the music swelled, Ali began the process of putting on her own toe-gards and pointe shoes, stretching out her bad knee, and hoping fervently that it would behave itself. The doctor had not been happy that she was going on tour or that she would be dancing some potentially strenuous roles. He warned her once again that her meniscus was strained and needed time to heal. Healing that it wouldn't get with the path she was headed down now. Still, if Ali wanted to maintain her status as a soloist and become a_ Prima Ballerina Assoluta_, she needed to go for roles that kept her in the forefront. The Sugar Plum Fairy was the best compromise she could make; it was one dance, albeit a difficult one, but still a minor lead. If she got the part she could spent the remainder of the performance resting and not strain her knee anymore then was necessary. With this justification in mind, she resolved to look at the situation positively, which was easy enough with everything going so well at home now.

As she waited for Andi's and Morgan's audition to finish, she found her mind wandering back to the encounter that she and Uncas had had the night before. The memory of it sent a rush of heat throughout her entire body.

"_So you'll dance and I'll paint?" Uncas asked as he teased her by tracing his fingers along her inner thigh, inching close to her center before gliding away to trace the curve of her hip instead. They were coming down from a rather passionate round of lovemaking and Ali pouted as he trailed a finger up and down her hip teasingly. They were lying naked in bed, facing one another, and he was driving her nuts by not following through with those dancing fingers._

"_We could switch it up?" she joked as she made a grab for his hand and tried to place it where she wanted it. He jerked it away with a playful smile. _

_ "You mean that I could dance and you could paint_?" _Uncas asked as he rolled on top of her, pinning her with the long length of his body. He smiled down into her flustered face and rubbed that hard male part of him against her lower abdomen. She wriggled to show him that two could play at that game._

_ "I don't think anyone wants to see me in a tutu." Uncas informed her, letting out a gasp as her wiggling caused some pleasant friction. _

_"I don't think anyone wants to see me paint." Ali countered, smiling. Then, feeling impatient with the foreplay, she reached between them and grasped him with her hand. She opened her legs for him and he grinned down at her as she positioned him at her opening. Once he slid inside her there was no more conversation for quite a while._

That was their current plan; she would dance and he would paint. He had finally agreed to check out some galleries once they were out of Montana and off the reservation. He figured if he was going to get shit for leaving, there was nothing to stop him from branching out with his art either. Ali had no doubt that he would find someone who was willing to showcase his work; he was more than good enough.

Uncas had even agreed to let her help with a small (very small) portion of his debt and turn the remaining amount over to Nate, as it was his to begin with. Ali was still ruminating on everything when Andi's audition came to an end and she flopped down next to Ali again, wiping her forehead with one arm and pulling off a pointe shoe to stretch out her toes.

"Please tell me that I didn't completely bungle that?" she begged as she pulled her toes back and held them there, trying to relieve a cramp in the arch. Morgan sauntered over with a towel draped around his shoulders and grinned down at the nervous girl.

"You did fine," Morgan reassured her, "Stop worrying!"

He turned to Ali then.

"Ali, tell her she did fine." he prompted, giving her pleading eyes. Ali nodded her agreement, even though she had been so lost in thought that she had missed the last half of the audition. She was suddenly glad that it was dark backstage, that way neither Morgan nor Andi could see her flushed cheeks.

"When are you up?" Andi asked her as she released her toes, wiggled them and then moved onto the other foot.

"I think there are still Tyler and Gage's ahead of me." she answered as she glanced over to see Tyler taking his place off stage, waiting for the music to begin.

"Like Tyler _needs_ to audition," Morgan commented as he mopped the back of his neck and head with the towel, "We all know that he has 'The Rat King' in the bag."

"Well, they have to keep up appearances." Andi murmured back, her voice laced with irony.

Tyler was going to dance a limited portion of the Rat King Battle, combining his audition with Tyler's to save time. This wasn't very surprising to Ali. Tyler and Gage had been dating for several months now, they were even living together, so it made sense that they should audition together too. She watched them dance forward and back as though sword fighting, intensity written all over their faces. Once the music came to an end, it was Ali's turn.

She took a deep breath and got to her feet, testing the shoes give to make sure they were broken in enough, before smiling at Morgan and Andi. They both gave her thumbs up as she walked over to take her place, waiting for the music of 'The Sugarplum Fairy' to begin.

With the first chords, Ali shook herself and danced out onto the stage slowly. She began with movements that she hoped resembled those of a wind up doll, a little bounce to the feet in time to the music. From there, she transitioned into a fairy like glide across the stage, wanting to give off the illusion of having wings and floating on her toes.

Next she did tiny toe steps, as though she were trying to walk on water and finished the piece with a series of flawless pirouettes. The routine went off better than she could have expected and her knee only pained her a little, which was a bonus. She danced off stage and back over to where her friends were waiting.

"Flawless as usual." Morgan complimented as she pulled off her pointe shoes.

"Thanks," Ali replied doubtfully though she managed a smile for him, " but nothing is ever flawless as far as Julia and David are concerned."

"True." He conceded and then blinked as though remembering something. "Hey, a bunch of us are heading to that Mexican place off of 5th avenue in a few if guys want to join?"

"I can't today," Ali responded, "I have a ton of stuff I need to take to goodwill before we leave for the tour."

"That Indian of yours coming along then?" he inquired. When Ali blinked at him with a 'How do you know about that' expression, he laughed.

"Nothing's a secret with Cassie, remember? Besides, I was in the other room when she and Sinopa broke up, so I assume you had a similar discussion."

"As a matter of fact, he is." Ali revealed with a happy smile.

"Well, you might want to keep that information to yourself for a while if you're around Cassie. She's still steaming over Sinopa not doing the same." He warned, speaking lowly even though Cassie was all the way over on the other side of the stage and couldn't possibly hear him.

"Sinopa has a career, why can't she understand that?" Ali asked him incredulously. Out of all the people in the company, Morgan understood his roommate the best. He shrugged his muscled shoulders and gave her a little half-smile.

"Cassie understands Cassie," he replied simply, "I just live with her."

He glanced over as Cassie was gesturing at him that they were leaving. She noted Ali with a rather sour expression and then disregarded her completely. Morgan nodded and held up a finger to tell her he would be there in a few. He turned back and smiled down at Andi.

"What about you, Smoke Stack?" Morgan asked her, using the company nickname for her. "You up for some greasy Mexican food?"

Andi was skinny like any other ballerina but she was also solid and finely muscular. Because she was so tall on top of it, they had nicknamed her 'Smoke Stack'.

"No, not today," Andi begged off apologetically, "I'm too nervous to eat right now. Though, if you want some help with those boxes, Ali, I can help out? I'd rather be doing something that doesn't make me think too much right now."

"If you want to, I certainly wouldn't say no to the help…or the company." Ali replied gratefully.

"Well, you two have fun moving shit." Morgan said to them nonchalantly, "If you change your mind, you know where to find us."

With that he gave them a little wave and walked off to join Cassie, who looked like she was about to come over and retrieve him. Morgan seemed to be the only person who could put up with her for more than a few minutes and, were Cassie straight, they would probably be dating. Ali watched in amazement as Morgan put a companionable arm around her shoulder and the impatient glare melted into one of easy familiarity. They walked down the stairs like a pair of high school sweethearts, making Ali shake her head in amazement.

"Unbelievable." she muttered to herself.

She and Andi retreated to the greenroom to retrieve their bags before getting cleaned up and donning their street clothes. Then they piled into Ali's car and headed for the reservation. Andi bounced in her seat like a grade-schooler on a field trip, looking out at the vast landscape as though expecting something truly amazing to appear.

"It's not _that_ exciting, Andi," Ali told her in bemusement when she caught her friend with her nose nearly pressed against the glass, "they have a freaking McDonalds, the same as everywhere else."

This did little to quell Andi's enthusiasm, so Ali gave up and let her look for tipi's or buffalo or whatever other stereotypical thing it was she expected to see in the Blackfoot Nation. By the time they reached the Cabin she had finally realized that, other than having a lot of brown skinned people in one place, the reservation wasn't that different from town.

They got to work on sorting the clothes Uncas had decided he wanted to get rid of into the first box. Once that was complete, Andi carried them out to the car. She had just left the room with one such box in tow when Ali heard the crash. She was digging into the back of the closet for old shoes at the time and the sound of a loud thump followed by the sound of glass cracking, brought her head up.

There was a short cry of 'What the fuck' from the hallway as Ali darted up from the closet to race out. She skidded out the door in time to see Andi lying on top of Paul, who was on his back on the hallway floor. There were clothes scattered everywhere and the box was lying on its side nearby. Nearby was a wall photo with a long crack now gracing it's surface.

"Oh God, I'm so, so sorry," Andi hurriedly apologized as she pushed herself up and off of him, "I didn't see you around the box. Are you alright?"

"I'm good, winded but otherwise ok," Paul responded, glancing around them at the mess before looking back at her with wide eyes, "are _you_ ok?"

Ali saw Nate standing at the opposite end of the hallway, watching the two of them with a wide eyed expression. It looked like the two of them had just come in when Andi and Paul had slammed into one another.

"I think you broke my hall," she replied, grimacing as her eye fell on the picture with the cracked glass, "and a picture frame." Andi climbed to her feet and held a hand out to help him up. Paul blinked up at her in surprise before taking the offered hand. With a huff, she pulled him to his feet.

"Wow, you're tall for a girl!" Paul exclaimed when he was upright. They were almost eye level with each other, almost exactly the same height. Paul wasn't as tall as Uncas, but he was by no means short. Next to each other, the top of Paul's head was even with Uncas eyes so the fact that they met at eye level said a lot about how tall Andi was.

"Strong too." He added as he took his hand back. Andi laughed and pushed her dark curls over one shoulder.

"They didn't call me 'sasquatch' in high school for nothing." She replied, grinning. Paul returned the smile and glanced around at the mess again.

"What's with all the clothes," he asked curiously, "you robbing the place? 'Cause Flannel," he picked up one of Uncas old shirts, "doesn't go for much."

"Oh, those are Uncas," Ali explained, coming further out into the hallway, "Andi was helping me take them out to the car. They're Goodwill bound."

"Andi, huh?" Paul commented, giving her a sympathetic smile. "Tall, built like brick shit house _and_ a guy's name. Dude, your parents must have really not liked you!"

"It's short for Andromeda," she explained, rolling her eyes but laughing at his crude humor nonetheless, "my parents are Greek history and language teachers so my siblings and I ended up with some interesting names. We all have nicknames because our given ones are so freaking weird."

"Well, its nicer then my name," Paul replied dryly, "Paul Whitaker Blackstone just sounds like a Hollywood cowboy name."

Ali watched Andi laugh and say something witty back to him, which made him smile even broader. She looked back and forth between the two of them with the realization that they were flirting with each other. She looked across the hall to Nate, who was grinning, and realized that he had come to the same conclusion. After a few more minutes of idle banter, they returned their attention to the fallen clothes.

"Let me help you pick these up at least," Paul offered as he knelt down to grab the box and pull it over to him, "It's partially my fault that they're all over."

Andi leaned down to grab at an article as well saying, "Oh no, that's not necessary. I'm the one that crashed into _you_ afteral-"her words were cut off as their foreheads collided. They had both been turning to say something when they bonked heads. Andi fell back on her behind, groaning and laughing while Paul grinned at her around the hand clutching his head.

"Alright, 'Sasquatch' is beginning to suit you more and more. Your head is like a fucking rock!" Paul chortled.

"Oh, shut up!" she said back, chuckling.

Nate and Ali interceded to save them from themselves, and as a group, they finally got all the clothes back into the box. Once the last article was deposited, Paul picked it up and grinned at Andi over the top of it.

"It's probably safer if I take this out for you," he told her with a look of faux concern, "wouldn't want you to plow into anyone else with those tree trunks you call arms." he ribbed good-naturedly.

"Hey, I'm a ballerina!" Andi scoffed in mock indignation, walking next to him as he headed for the front door. "You try dancing for twelve hours or more a day and see how muscled _you_ get!"

"They let Sasquatch dance? This I need to see!" And with that they disappeared out the door, laughing companionably. Ali and Nate stared after them, Ali wearing a startled expression and Nate wearing a bemused one.

"They were-"

"Flirting, I know," Nate finished for her, smiling, "I don't know where you found that girl but if she can make him laugh like that, I ain't complainin'!"

Andi and Paul returned a few minutes later, still chatting happily. Ali forcibly steered her friend away and down the hall when it looked like the conversation wasn't in any danger of ending anytime soon. Once they were out of ear shot of the other two men, Andi took her arm and leaned in.

"Is that the brother," the dark haired girl whispered excitedly, "and is he single?"

Ali rolled her eyes and gently extracted her arm from Andi's grasp.

"No, that's the _cousin_," she corrected as she walked over to the closet, "Uncas brother was the other guy and yes, Paul is single."

"Good god, are _all _the guys out here that good looking?" Andi asked, peeking back around the doorframe for another glimpse of Paul. Ali could hear the guys banging around in the kitchen, getting out the casserole she had made two days ago. They were probably just killing time until they had to be at the Oil Rig.

"Not especially," Ali replied distractedly before frowning over at Andi, who was still peering around the door frame, "are we gonna talk about cute boys or get these clothes loaded up?"

"We can't do both?" her friend countered with a wolfish grin, which she flashed over one shoulder at Ali. Ali shook her head, heaving a resigned sigh as Andi finally extracted herself from the door. She made her way over to help, still wearing that 'I saw a cute guy' smile on her face.

They worked as a team for the next fifteen minutes, Ali packing and Andi carrying out boxes, until the last one was loaded into Ali's Volkswagen. Andi sang to herself as she went in and out of the house and Ali had to admit that she had a nice singing voice.

"_Safety net don't hold me now,_" Andi sang soulfully as she bent over to pick up the next box, "_in this hole I've fallen down._"

Ali began to hum along with the gentle tune as the other girl walked out of the room, still singing sweetly as she moved away and down the hall.

_"Secret home I've made and found…"_ she heard the door open and the singing fade away on a heartfelt '_A new way to breathe'_ as Andi walked down the porch steps. Even though Ali couldn't hear the words anymore, she continued to hum to herself as she sorted old shirts and pants into the final box. The tune was easy to harmonize with, very slow paced, and Ali made a mental note to ask after the song title and singer before parting ways today.

"_And in the sickness, you have faith_…" her friends voice resumed as she came back up the steps and through the front door, "_and in the thickness, you find me._"

Ali knew she had heard Paul and Nate in the kitchen just a little while ago, she had seen them heading in that direction when she had dragged Andi away. Now, she realized that she heard nothing from that direction at all, and hadn't since Andi left the room. They hadn't left, she would have heard them, and she knew her Casserole wasn't amazing enough to stunt their conversation. Why were they being so quiet all of a sudden?

"_In the city you find pain._" Andi was singing as Ali got up and walked to the door to see where the men could possibly have disappeared to. She saw Andi coming toward her as she stepped into the hall.

"_And the people you see there…"_

Ali looked over her friend's shoulder to see both Nate and Paul peeking around the corner, their rapt attention focused on Andi, who hadn't picked up on the fact that she had an audience. Paul in particular looked entranced, as though Andi's singing voice was the most beautiful thing he had ever heard. Nate just looked suitably impressed.

"_That remind you of your own_," Andi continued, "_let it go_-uh, what are you staring at?" she left off singing so abruptly that the switch was jarring. Ali smiled and nodded with her head toward the two guys. Andi spun around and, seeing them, went instantly red in the face.

"Oh, I'm sorry…was I being too loud?" she apologized. "I wasn't trying to disturb anyone."

"Disturb nothing! That was fucking awesome!" Paul declared once the spell she had cast dispelled. Andi smiled a little as she looked down at her feet.

"If you say so." she murmured, embarrassed by the sudden attention.

"Where'd you learn to sing like that?" Paul asked her.

"In the shower mostly, while doing chores," she listed, counting off on her fingers before flashing him a sheepish smile, "I honestly just sing to myself when I'm busy, it's an old habit."

"She's pretty, she dances, she sings," he replied, making his own list, "If you tell me you can cook halfway decent, I might be forced to kidnap you."

"Oh, is that a promise?" Andi asked, sounding like she liked this prospect.

"Ok, let's get that last box loaded up before either of you kidnaps anyone?" Ali interrupted quickly.

Andi was known for her flirting, there was a good natured joke in the company that she went through men like pieces of paper, but Ali had never seen it first-hand. Andi's light flirting with Paul was innocent enough but Ali found she was bothered by it and suddenly just wanted to get her out of the cabin.

"Oh, all right, Ms. Buzzkill!" the dark haired girl grumbled as she flashed one more flirty smile at Paul before sauntering into the bed room to retrieve the last box. Was it just Ali being overly critical or was Andi swinging her hips more than normal?

She came back out with the box balanced on one shoulder and Ali followed her down the hall to the door after ducking back into the room for her purse. She walked over to hold the door open for Andi when Paul called out "See you around, Sasquatch!"

"Looking forward to it!" she called back, her voice warm and inviting.

Once the door was shut and locked behind them, Ali turned and hissed:

"Please don't tell me you're thinking about starting something up with Paul?"

"I'm doing more than thinking about it," Andi sang back as she descended the porch steps, "I have every intention of doing _a lot_ with him!"

That translated to she was going to sleep with him. Andi wasn't exactly promiscuous, that wasn't the word Ali would use to describe her, but she wasn't overly picky either. She would go strong with one guy for a while, then they would break up, and she would move onto another, all within a short span of time.

If there was one thing she could say for Andi, it was that she didn't have one night stands. She cared about every man she slept with but her issue was more that she hated sleeping alone. Ali didn't want to see all the progress Paul had made fall by the wayside just so Andi could have someone to keep her warm at night.

"Andi, we're about to go on tour for over a year," Ali reminded her as she made her way down the stairs, "Don't you think it's a little silly to start dating someone when you're going to leave in a month?

"Dating isn't exactly what I had in mind." The girl replied with a wink.

"Look, if you're looking for is a booty call then you should probably look elsewhere." Ali told her more harshly than she intended. "He's been hurt by girls before and it kind of fucked him up. Don't make things harder for him, please?"

Andi stared back at her as though she had reached across the driveway and slapped her across the face.

"You think I'm going to sleep with him and throw him away." Andi accused in a quiet, flat tone.

"That's not what I'm saying," Ali tried again, trying to find some way to salvage a conversation that was quickly derailing. "I just…"

"I'm not a slut, Ali!" Andi snapped, cutting her off from whatever she had been about to say.

"I know you're not, that not what I meant, I just-"

" I don't sleep with just any guy who comes along and shows interest!" her friend continued, her voice heating up.

"Andi, really, that's not what I was trying to say." Ali tried to get a word in but Andi was too angry to listen.

"I know exactly what you were trying to say; you think I don't know what they say about me at the company? Her friend spat back at her. "You think I haven't been in the bathroom and heard the _corp_ girls gossiping about me?"

"Andi-" she tried again but the dark haired girl shook her head and laid the box on the ground with a scoff.

"God forbid that I have an active sex life!" Andi grumbled as she straightened back up. When she locked eyes with Ali again, her features were heavy with injured feelings.

"I thought that _you_, at least, thought better of me."

"Andi, please!" Ali begged when Andi turned her back on her and refused to meet her eyes. "I'm sorry; I wasn't trying to insult you. I was just trying to look out for him."

Andi shot her a glare over her shoulder but said nothing. Ali stopped talking as a wheezing began in her chest, brought on by the dust she had kicked up in their closest and the sudden argument about Paul.

"He dated my sister," she gasped out, hitting her chest as though that would somehow make the air flow better, "and it ended badly." Her friend went very still and slowly spun around to face her.

"Badly how?" Andi asked in a tight voice. Ali knew that when her voice sounded like that, that she was trying not to cry.

"Cora cut the whole thing off abruptly and he kinda…stalked her…for a while." Ali wheezed, digging for her inhaler as she fumbled to explain. Finding it, she pushed the plunger once, let the medicine get as far into her airways as it could, and then pushed the plunger a second time. When she felt her chest begin to loosen she continued:

"Paul took it badly but he's trying to make up for all that now. I just don't want you to start something up with him that neither of you is prepared for. That's all I meant, Andi! I don't think you're a slut, ok?"

"You promise?" the dark haired girl squeaked, a tear sliding down one cheek. Ali threw her arms around her friend in a tight hug.

"You know I love you more than my luggage!" she said in a bad imitation of Olympia Dukakis's character from 'Steel Magnolia's', the first movie they had ever watched together. She felt Andi's chest rising and falling with laughter as she slowly lifted her arms to hug her back.

"You're too twisted for color TV!" Andi quoted back in a slightly better Imitation of Shirley McClain. When they separated, Andi scrubbed her face with her hands.

"God," she scoffed, "now I'm all splotchy. I can't go into town like this."

"Well, luckily for you, we've got a little bit of a drive ahead of us" Ali said and gestured with her head toward the car.

"Sorry I made you have an asthma attack." Andi said as Ali opened the trunk and put the box in the back with the others.

"I'm sorry that I made it sound like I thought you were a slut." Ali replied.

"Wanna watch 'Steel Magnolia's' tonight and eat _Bekri Mezedes_?" Andi asked about half a second later.

"If you're cooking, I'm watching." Ali replied, smiling.

_ Bekri Mezedes_ translated in English as 'Drunkards Meze'. It was a dish that could be made using any kind of meat, various peppers, and a variety of spices. One thing that all _Bekri Mezedes_ had in common though, was that it was made with red wine. Andi had made it the last time they had watched the movie and Ali thought it was delicious.

"Movies and Greek food it is!" Andi said as they climbed into the car. Ali couldn't think of a better way to end a misunderstanding than a cheesy 80's movie and a greasy meal, apparently Andi felt the exact same way.

**(****Authors note****: Thus ends what I've come to call the 'Andi and Paul chapter', they kind of hijacked the whole thing XD. As I said in the previous chapter, I had plans for Paul to have a love interest; I just didn't know how to get them in the same room.**

**I had one idea where I was going to have Ali forget something and Uncas was going to send it with Paul but he could just as easily send Nate so that made no sense. Then I thought about making Paul go to one of the later performances but he literally said to me 'I'd rather shit barbed wire', so that was out too.**

**This worked out pretty well without getting too far into anything. Unfortunately, the plot doesn't have room for too much Andi and Paul so I'll throw in what I can. **

**Next chapter is back to Uncas and deals with how his coworkers respond to his leaving…maybe a little on his take of Andi and Paul, we'll see.**

**This chapter was like the bane of my existence until Andi and Paul hijacked it. I usually go in with a vague idea of what I want to do but this time it was just 'audtion.' After I wrote their auditions, I fizzled out completely and could NOT come up with anything. Then Andi was like 'I got this' and it all came out just fine. **

**Not much else to comment on in terms of plot…Oh, that song that Andi was singing is called 'Skin', by the way. It's by Zola Jesus. It's a nice, soulful little piece which I now think of as the 'Andi/Paul theme'. Another good one for them is 'Take me home tonight' by Eddie money (More cheesy 80's songs XD).**

**The movie Ali's mentions, 'Steel Magnolias,' is actually one of my favorites and I recommend it highly.**

**Annnnnnnnnnd…yep, that's all. Enjoy the Andi/Paul chapter and I will see you all next week ! (hopefully) )**


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